Xbox Cloud Gaming Will Let You 'Bring Your Own Games' With Xbox Game Pass Ultimate This Year

Xbox Cloud Gaming will soon support the ability to stream games purchased outside the Xbox Game Pass library, the Microsoft-owned gaming giant announced on Thursday. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will be able to play select titles that they own, from the cloud, in countries where the feature is supported. Microsoft has also announced that a beta version of Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming to Argentina and New Zealand, starting today, along with the ability to play Fortnite for free on the game streaming service — bringing the total number of supported Xbox Cloud Gaming countries to 28.

Microsoft says it intends to allow Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to bring select games that they already own or have purchased outside the Xbox Game Pass library. The American company says it will add support later this year, but is yet to reveal details about which games will be supported. Xbox Cloud Gaming is currently supported on phones, tablets, PCs, and consoles, while support for streaming games on Samsung smart TVs is coming soon.

Meanwhile, Xbox Cloud Gaming is also expanding to the two aforementioned countries, Microsoft announced on Thursday. Starting today, gamers with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription in Argentina and New Zealand can stream titles like Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, and Tunic directly from the cloud with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Supported platforms include Android, iOS, Windows, and Xbox Series S/X consoles. As is the case with other regions where Xbox Cloud Gaming is supported, gamers will be able to play Fortnite free of cost and without a subscription.

Microsoft recently revealed that over 10 million players have played a game on its Xbox Cloud Gaming service. The service has also partnered with Epic Games to provide free access to popular free-to-play battle royale game Fortnite — Microsoft says millions of gamers have been playing the title on Android, iOS, and PC, while 20 percent of these users are new to the Xbox platform. The service is also adding thousands of new custom Xbox Series X server racks globally to increase its cloud gaming capacity by 125 percent due to global demand.

“[Xbox Cloud Gaming] should be part of you playing any game on any device, whether it's a game that you own, whether it's a free-to-play game: it is really about delivering great game content to any customer on any device through multiple business models,” Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said in a prepared statement.

Microsoft's cloud-based game streaming service, which was launched in 2020, was previously available in 26 countries. These are Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the US. Microsoft says it now supports 350 cloud enabled games — with Xbox touch controls for over 100 games. The wait continues for gamers in India, as Microsoft has not revealed any plans to bring the service to the country.