Xbox Cloud Gaming comes to iPhone and iPad this week

Last year, we wrote about how Apple’s restrictive App Store rules would cause millions of gamers to miss out on Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming service (née xCloud). Microsoft later updated the Xbox app to stream games over your local network from your own Xbox, but that’s not the same thing as a cloud gaming service where you don’t need to download or install games at all.

After months of hand-wringing and probably back-room negotiations, Microsoft finally announced that it would build a web-based solution for devices in which it can’t provide an app, like iPhone and iPad. (Oddly enough, this is also how the company plans to bring Game Streaming to Windows 10 PCs.) The company promised that we’d see Xbox Game Streaming through the browser as early as spring 2021.

That day has finally come—or, it will this week. Sort of. Select Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will start receiving beta test invitations to try out the feature, with the testing group gradually growing over time, including players from all 22 supported countries.

“Our plan is to iterate quickly and open up to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the coming months so more people have the opportunity to play Xbox in all-new ways,” Microsoft says. If things go smoothly, all Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will soon be able to play on iPad, iPhone, and likely Mac (why not?) by the summer.