Xbox Wants To Let You Play Games Without A Console

Streaming sticks and smart TV apps for Xbox cloud gaming

Xbox cloud gaming allows Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to stream popular Xbox games to their Android devices and internet browsers, but that’s only the beginning. In a pre-E3 post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft revealed plans to create TV apps and dedicated streaming devices to bring Xbox gaming to more players without the need for a console.

You don’t need an Xbox console to play Xbox games. Anyone subscribing to Game Pass Ultimate has instant access to a growing library of Xbox games that play perfectly well streamed over an internet connection to their cell phones. With browser-based streaming coming out of beta in the coming weeks, enabling play on just about anything capable of running Chrome, Safari, or whatever Microsoft’s browser is these days, the company turns its attention to getting game streaming running on even more devices.

To that end, Microsoft is working with global TV manufacturers to have an Xbox app embedded in internet-enabled televisions. Xbox would be another menu option on such devices, like Hulu or Netflix, only for games. Users would be able to connect a controller and play away, making Stadia look like a chump in the process. Microsoft’s plans also include dedicated streaming devices that connect directly to televisions to enable game streaming without a console.

The company is considering new subscription options for Xbox Game Pass alongside this tech push. These would likely include some sort of streaming-only plan for players without dedicated Xbox consoles. It sounds like Microsoft is trying to out-Stadia Stadia, which seems like a very achievable goal given the current state of Google’s streaming service.

[source: Kotaku]