Microsoft went all in on cloud gaming when this generation started, and a Game Pass Ultimate subscription makes it possible to play most of the games without the need of a PC or Xbox. But despite the many advantages, it wasn't very popular at first, although it seems to be picking up the pace recently.
In an interview with the journalist Stephen Totilo, the Microsoft Gaming boss Phil Spencer revealed:
"There was a time when we weren't deploying more [server] blades because we had more supply than we did demand for the server racks that we had in place. That's clearly not true today."
Spencer went on to explain that cloud gaming now single-handedly makes up a "double-digit percentage" of the time people play Xbox, which means at least 10%. And it doesn't seem like it's the traditional console audience that uses it first and foremost, as the growth in cloud gaming comes from "markets that are never going to be console markets" - which incidentally is exactly what Microsoft hoped for when they started their cloud effort.
Later this year, you will be able to play all your Xbox games with the cloud, which means you will always have access to your console and games wherever you have good internet, something that probably will increase the popularity even further.
Thanks, Game File.