Microsoft has hinted at a future where Xbox gamers will be able to stream games they own and are outside of the platforms Game Pass and xCloud offerings, and the future is now.
Earlier today, the Xbox team began rolling out a new preview build to its Alpha-Skip Ahead and Alpha rings for Insiders to test over the Winter break.
The new Xbox feature comes as part of the xCloud streaming platform and is unfortunately tied to web browsers and a few select smart TVs for now.
Other stipulations of the streaming feature outside of being enrolled as an Insider specifically on the Alpha channels, owning a select smart TV or having access to a browser, is also owning the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription license as well as holding onto one of the fifty approved games from the initial roll out.
The full list is here.
Spoiler alert, be prepared to play a lot of Assassin Creed.
Other less platformy and parkour-filled gaming adventures supported by the new streaming feature include NBA 2K25, Start Wars Outlaws, Cyberpunk 2077, Final Fantasy XIV, Dying Light, Life is Strange, Hades, the Harry Potter Lego collection, and more.
With the “Stream your own game” feature on Xbox consoles, you can stream select games you own on your Xbox console without needing to install them. This allows you to play games through streaming, saving you time and hard drive space, and offers access to your games with Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta).
Anu Reddy, Senior Product Manager, Xbox
To start streaming from your Xbox console, go to My games & apps > Full library > Owned Games.
- If you own a cloud playable game, you’ll see a cloud badge on the game.
- You can also use filters to find games quickly. Choose Filter > Ready to play > Cloud gaming.
- To start playing, select the game and then choose Play with Cloud Gaming.
- Support for launching directly from the Store app and streaming in the Xbox app on Windows PC will be coming in the future.
