The only surprise here is the timing, I guess, but Microsoft will bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One this holiday season. The announcement came during today’s gamescom 2021 event.

“We’re bringing cloud gaming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One this holiday, enabling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play 100+ games right from the cloud and discover new games with the click of a button,” Microsoft’s Jake Rosenberg announced. “It’s a way for console gamers to play some of their favorite games as quickly as possible, jump into games with friends more easily, and try out Xbox Game Pass titles before installing them.”

To date, Microsoft has brought Xbox Cloud Gaming—previously codenamed Project xCloud—to Android, and then Windows and iOS via a web app, and then to Windows again via the native Xbox app. So it’s no surprise that we’re getting a native Xbox client as well. And I would imagine we’ll see the service head to set-top boxes like Roku, and perhaps to some smart TVs, next.

As for the Xbox console feature, Microsoft says that it will begin testing the experience with Xbox Insiders “this fall,” and that it will provide an update later about the exact timing of the public release.

Tagged with Xbox Cloud Gaming