Five years after announcing the feature was on the way, Microsoft has finally launched the ability for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play “select” games they already own outside the Xbox Game Pass library via cloud streaming.
Microsoft originally announced the feature back in 2019, with the goal of launching it alongside Xbox Cloud Gaming (then known as Project xCloud) the following year. It was then re-announced for launch in 2022, but again failed to materialise, with The Verge later reporting its arrival had been “complicated by having to prepare key infrastructure for thousands of games” .
However, word began circulating last month that the long-in-the-works feature was finally almost here – and those reports have now been proven true. Microsoft has announced Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can use Xbox Cloud Gaming to stream games they own starting today – albeit only if they appear on its 50-strong list of currently compatible titles.
That’s not, admittedly, a huge number of games when you consider the size of the Xbox catalogue, but it’s a pretty solid list, mixing blockbuster titles old and new with acclaimed indie games. Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077, Star Wars Outlaws, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Warhammer 4K: Space Marine 2, and Life is Strange: Double Exposure all feature, as do Balatro, Hades, Animal Well, Dredge, Phasmophobia, The Plucky Squire. The full list, as it currently stands, is available at the bottom of this story, and Microsoft adds its “library of cloud-playable titles will continue to grow, as we work with our partners around the world”.