Exclusive: First hands-on with xCloud Xbox game streaming for PC

[Deleted member 67800]

Project xCloud on PC looks and functions in almost the exact same way it does on Android, scaling easily to meet larger displays. The app we've been using is designed for internal testing, and it comes with all the same features from the Xbox Game Pass app on Android, including touch controls, which is ideal if you're using a Surface device and you don't have an Xbox controller handy or one of the clips from our best xCloud Xbox controller phone clips round up. Even if you have a capable PC, streaming console games to a PC also has some other small benefits, including less susceptibility to hackers and cheaters vs. online PC counterparts, and the ability to scale a window more easily without using some third-party software like the Borderless Gaming app on Steam.

game streaming on PC demo.

Exclusive: First hands-on video with xCloud Xbox game streaming for Windows 10 PC

We've been hands-on with xCloud for PC, and it's awesome.

www.windowscentral.com

 

[ghostcrew]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

 

[Deleted member 67800]

I want to see how this tool will work in Linux.

 

[Fiksi]

Glad to see they're working on getting this out :D

 

[Hamster Plugin]

This won't be any use until the streaming bit rate is not absolute ass. It's genuinely difficult to play Nier Automata when the mini map is constantly getting artifacts from the terrible bit rate of the video stream. I would be fine with the 720p Xbox One S quality if it wasn't for that.

 

[Jonnax]

What's the hardware for this?

I tried Stadia since I got the controller free with Youtube premium.
And fired up Hitman 1.
It had lower texture quality settings than the base PS4 game.
However it ran at 60fps. No idea the resolution.
So maybe it's like a PS4 Pro equivalent.

Then I tried Geforce Now.
Which uses a Tesla GPU that's similar to a 2080ti.
I played the free prologue for Hitman 2.
And mah days it was night and day.
That'd be a service I'd pay for where you can play a game maxed out for cheap. (If I didn't have local hardware)
Video compression artefacts were much better as well.
Of course most publishers had opted out because you play your steam library.
If I recall no: Square Eninx, Bethesda, 2K and Microsoft.

Of course. I live in London with less than 5ms to most local datacentres so it's not the typical setup.

 

[Eoin]

What's the hardware for this?

Click to shrink...

On server side, right now the hardware is derived from Xbox One S.

That'll change to something newer eventually, but I don't think there's a known timeline for that.

 

[The Albatross]

This is great, I didn't think there'd be a PC streaming app/service because I assumed the 720p filling up a higher res PC screen would be rough. I have a Mac, and so obviously I can't play any games on it, so I've been open to streaming products on here.

Would also like to see this in browser, especially with Edge now being built on Chromium, they have builds for Mac and Linux so you wouldn't need to wait for the native app to be ported (which I thought they were building those all in React + Node environments anyway... but who knows)

On server side, right now the hardware is derived from Xbox One S.

That'll change to something newer eventually, but I don't think there's a known timeline for that.

Click to shrink...

I idly had a thought recently about whether MS would buy back Xbox One S hardware for a small amount of money... $50 or something, which then they could repurpose for these data centers. Or trade it in for Xbox GamePass credit or something. I have an Xbox One X and One S, and once I get the Series X, the One X will replace my One S, and I doubt I'll ever launch it again.

 

[Piccoro]

Finally!
Hope it comes out soon. I've been using it on Android but I rather use it on a big screen.

 

[Falus]

Unless they update the hardware I can't play on Xbox one S quality anymore

 

[Deleted member 51848]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

This has to be coming down the line IMHO.

 

[Dylan]

PS Now is also 720p on PC and looks fine, though it feels really old compared to newer streaming services. I gotta think these companies have a plan to increase their streaming quality soon.

 

[VirtualCloud]

Damn still 720p, that's a rough experience on ps now visually so can't say I expect much better here. Hoping the hardware upgrade happens sooner rather than later

 

[Windu]

"200 mbps connection, nothing special"

/looks at my internet in the US

*cries*

 

[Eoin]

I idly had a thought recently about whether MS would buy back Xbox One S hardware for a small amount of money... $50 or something, which then they could repurpose for these data centers.

Click to shrink...

That'd be extremely difficult. The blades look like this:

Behind each of those four square metal parts there's two Xbox One S-derived motherboards, for a total of eight machines per blade.

I don't think consumer models slot neatly into this configuration.

 

[24thFrame]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

This has to be coming down the line IMHO.

Click to shrink...

Believe they've said that a browser-based option is what they're planning as a workaround for iOS, so hopefully that option is also available on PC.

 

[Monkey D.]

Hope they release this soon. My phone (S7) gets really hot using gamepass.

 

[klauskpm]

Not browser-based? Come on...

 

[Adrifi]

Can't wait for the hardware upgrade to Series X. Isn't it scheduled for 2021?

 

[brawndolicious]

What's the hardware for this?

I tried Stadia since I got the controller free with Youtube premium.
And fired up Hitman 1.
It had lower texture quality settings than the base PS4 game.
However it ran at 60fps. No idea the resolution.
So maybe it's like a PS4 Pro equivalent.

Then I tried Geforce Now.
Which uses a Tesla GPU that's similar to a 2080ti.
I played the free prologue for Hitman 2.
And mah days it was night and day.
That'd be a service I'd pay for where you can play a game maxed out for cheap. (If I didn't have local hardware)
Video compression artefacts were much better as well.
Of course most publishers had opted out because you play your steam library.
If I recall no: Square Eninx, Bethesda, 2K and Microsoft.

Of course. I live in London with less than 5ms to most local datacentres so it's not the typical setup.

Click to shrink...

Currently, they're upgrading all the servers from One S chips to Series X chips so it'll be close in power to the Nvidia solution. However, I'm guessing that games released before 2020 would only have their Xbox One versions available.

Probably best to just wait and see once the PC client comes out. They're also in the process of improving the bit rate so it's kind of hard to predict how good image quality will be in the short or long term.

 

[Deleted member 4212]

Nice, looking forward to it.

Now Sony needs to get PS Now in gear and make a mobile app for it.

 

[tzare]

A bit too late imo, playing on a phone or tablet isn't exactly ideal. They shoud release PC client and also for Smart TVs (at least android tv) if they want streaming to be mainstream.
Still waiting on that 1080p bump promised/hinted almost a year ago. Also i wonder when they plan (same as sony) to upgrade their blades to XSX/XSS instead of base XBO

 

[zedox]

A bit too late imo, playing on a phone or tablet isn't exactly ideal. They shoud release PC client and also for Smart TVs (at least android tv) if they want streaming to be mainstream.
Still waiting on that 1080p bump promised/hinted almost a year ago. Also i wonder when they plan (same as sony) to upgrade their blades to XSX/XSS instead of base XBO

Click to shrink...

Late?...who is dominating right now?

 

[THEVOID]

A bit too late imo, playing on a phone or tablet isn't exactly ideal. They shoud release PC client and also for Smart TVs (at least android tv) if they want streaming to be mainstream.
Still waiting on that 1080p bump promised/hinted almost a year ago. Also i wonder when they plan (same as sony) to upgrade their blades to XSX/XSS instead of base XBO

Click to shrink...

That bump is happening in 2021, which has been talked about quite a bit. I don't get the "bit late" part? Late for what?

 

[tzare]

Late?...who is dominating right now?

Click to shrink...

Dominating what? What does that have to do with launching just for phones/tablets
It has been on beta for quite a long time, and still 720p and still no pc or TV clients is a bit disappointing.

 

[ivan.k]

A bit too late imo, playing on a phone or tablet isn't exactly ideal. They shoud release PC client and also for Smart TVs (at least android tv) if they want streaming to be mainstream.
Still waiting on that 1080p bump promised/hinted almost a year ago. Also i wonder when they plan (same as sony) to upgrade their blades to XSX/XSS instead of base XBO

Click to shrink...

Late for what? Who's taken the cloud market? What is this nonsense lol

 

[oakenhild]

I'm really looking forward to this. Seems like a great way to be able to quickly try out any of the games on game pass without having to use my bandwidth cap or wait for downloads.

Hopefully this is a standalone electron app that will work on mac and linux as well.

 

[jelly]

Lol, in the video. 200 down isp, nothing special. Uh huh. Maybe my bar is kinda low but that sort of internet connection is not nothing special.

 

[RF Switch]

A bit too late imo, playing on a phone or tablet isn't exactly ideal. They shoud release PC client and also for Smart TVs (at least android tv) if they want streaming to be mainstream.
Still waiting on that 1080p bump promised/hinted almost a year ago. Also i wonder when they plan (same as sony) to upgrade their blades to XSX/XSS instead of base XBO

Click to shrink...

Too late I already spent 2k on my PC thanks Microsoft

 

[tzare]

Late for what? Who's taken the cloud market? What is this nonsense lol

Click to shrink...

it is late because it launched with only small screen support? After a year in beta. All these streaming services come full of promises, and all of them have a lot to be desired at launch: limited availability, streaming quality or content. Xcloud was often stated as the one to lead all them (some comparisons last year even ignored psnow, just comparing stadia and xcloud).
And here we are.

 

[Deleted member 76797]

Does this have OG xbox and 360'games?

 

[zedox]

Dominating what? What does that have to do with launching just for phones/tablets
It has been on beta for quite a long time, and still 720p and still no pc or TV clients is a bit disappointing.

Click to shrink...

The reason I said this is because in order for something to be "late"...there has to be something to catch up to...there's nothing. No one is taking the world by storm in streaming. No one is late to streaming, no one. Doesn't matter if they started 5 years ago. The opportunity is still there.

 

[M4xim1l1ano]

it is late because it launched with only small screen support? After a year in beta. All these streaming services come full of promises, and all of them have a lot to be desired at launch: limited availability, streaming quality or content. Xcloud was often stated as the one to lead all them (some comparisons last year even ignored psnow, just comparing stadia and xcloud).
And here we are.

Click to shrink...

congratulations on making no sense!
for example, Nokia dominated the phone-biz and yet Apple still released the iphone

Sony and Nintendo had success with video games before Microsoft and yet they still released Xbox..

So what is late thingy you are talking about?

 

[ginge]

its 720p right now because the one S video encoder isn't good enough for 1080 with good compression and low latency is what Microsoft have said. The Xcloud servers that they are starting to install right now use Series X silicon, which has a much better encoder that can do 4k with no latency loss. I imagine the desktop/browser streaming will roll out more widely when all the server blades are using the series x silicon

 

[tzare]

congratulations on making no sense!
for example, Nokia dominated the phone-biz and yet Apple still released the iphone

Sony and Nintendo had success with video games before Microsoft and yet they still released Xbox..

So what is late thingy you are talking about?

Click to shrink...

Because it launched without a main feature that is being able to play on a big screen ? (even if not ideal a PC client allows to connect to TV and play on a big display, but not as straightforward as having a dedicated app for smart tvs)
The service is lacking on features. So yes, it comes late.
As for the impact this has on competing platforms? Well that's another debate. It is still late even if nobody is dominating the game streaming portion of the pie. That is why they are probably releasing features at such slow pace.
ANd maybe it doesn't make sense for you, but i barely played the beta because i coulnd't enjoy playing on a 7 inch screen. I may be subscribed to the service if i could play on my TV though. But i guess playing videogames on a TV doesn't make sense either.

 

[SuikerBrood]

Does this have OG xbox and 360'games?

Click to shrink...

Currently, no. But I think we'll see those arrive on xCloud soon.

 

[Theorry]

Looks cool. But it really becomes interesting when the series x blades go in

 

[Nephtes]

WHEN!?!

My Surface Pro 3 can't play most PC games but if I had access to xCloud that would make traveling for business SOOO MUCH BETTER.

(My tablets and phones are all of the Apple variety)

 

[Fredrik]

Currently, they're upgrading all the servers from One S chips to Series X chips so it'll be close in power to the Nvidia solution. However, I'm guessing that games released before 2020 would only have their Xbox One versions available.

Probably best to just wait and see once the PC client comes out. They're also in the process of improving the bit rate so it's kind of hard to predict how good image quality will be in the short or long term.

Click to shrink...

Yeah I've tried xCloud but for me it falls flat compared to Stadia and Geforce Now because of the hardware, it simply feels dated. Stadia has the best UI and stream quality and GFN has the best hardware. XCloud has lots of games though but 720p and often sub-30fps is not something you can sell in 2020. Where I'm at there is too much latency and stutter too so I'm not using it.

Xbox Series X in-home streaming is glorious though! It's like the best feature on the console! XSX visual fidelity, snappy controls, comfy bed gaming right to an iPad Pro. Perfection!

Not sure what it would like to use this on PC though.

 

[Irrotational]

Does anyone know how to get the app! ? I'm assuming they didn't have special access and anyone could do it if they know the trick.

NOTE I'm NOT talking about the other trick recently shown. That gets you a streaming app to stream your existing series x locally to your pc. However that app cant/doesn't have xcloud streaming built in.

 

[Kanhir]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

Looks like an Electron app to me, which suggests it'll almost definitely have a browser version.

 

[Alek]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

I would like both. I imagine there might be some specific benefits to having this inside its own app?

 

[Dunlop]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

Nvidia managed to do it rather quickly with Geforce Now, I imagine MS will follow.

That said it has taken an eternity for the PC client and it is still not out yet....

 

[FernandoRocker]

That'd be extremely difficult. The blades look like this:

Behind each of those four square metal parts there's two Xbox One S-derived motherboards, for a total of eight machines per blade.

I don't think consumer models slot neatly into this configuration.

Click to shrink...

Probably dumb question, but if they have 1,000,000 persons playing games on xCloud, they would need to have 1,000,000 Xbox One S derived motherboards?

 

[ThereAreFourNaan]

Probably dumb question, but if they have 1,000,000 persons playing games on xCloud, they would need to have 1,000,000 Xbox One S derived motherboards?

Click to shrink...

To do 1 mil simultaneously, yes.

They plan to roll out Xbox Series X servers later on and apparently those can each be either "one series x console" or "3 xbox one s simulated consoles" at the same time. Presumably indie and older lighter games etc will be virtualized on the cheaper XBOS environments and that as demand shifts, they will switch XSX consoles between the modes.

 

[jrb]

It is about time. Hope they release it soon.

 

[killerrin]

I absolutely can't wait for the xCloud app for Windows. I've been quarentining at my parents place and all I got is my Surface to game on. Which isn't a bad device by any means for the types of games I usually play. But i'd be nice to be able to get some rounds of Halo in every now and then on a device that is actually hardwired into my network... and isn't my phone.

 

[Potato Mage]

I wish they'd make this browser based rather than needing it's own app.

Click to shrink...

They have said they're going to, to circumvent the Apple restrictions.

 

[Green]

Yeah I've tried xCloud but for me it falls flat compared to Stadia and Geforce Now because of the hardware, it simply feels dated. Stadia has the best UI and stream quality and GFN has the best hardware. XCloud has lots of games though but 720p and often sub-30fps is not something you can sell in 2020. Where I'm at there is too much latency and stutter too so I'm not using it.

Xbox Series X in-home streaming is glorious though! It's like the best feature on the console! XSX visual fidelity, snappy controls, comfy bed gaming right to an iPad Pro. Perfection!

Not sure what it would like to use this on PC though.

Click to shrink...

Will it do 120Hz on the iPad Pro? I can do that with Moonlight from my PC, but would be cool if the Xbox app did it too. Also, does it support rumble? Apple added that in a recent iPadOS update, curious if it works for Xbox app now.

 

[ghostcrew]

They have said they're going to, to circumvent the Apple restrictions.

Click to shrink...

I mean on PC. It'd be great if it ran in a browser tab so it could work on Windows/Mac/Linux/whatever you can install a browser on like Stadia does.

It baffles me every time I remember that I can't use PS Now to stream - a video stream - on my MacBook because it only works with a Windows app.