Xbox may be looking to broaden its cloud push with a cheaper variant of Xbox Cloud Gaming. This was revealed by Microsoft executive Jason Ronald in a podcast discussing the future of the service.
Currently, only subscribers of the $20 per month Game Pass Ultimate tier can stream games through the cloud. But Ronald hinted that the company is considering a more accessible level for players who don't want to pay for the full Ultimate package.
"One of the things we see is there's a lot of players who use Game Pass Ultimate to access the cloud, whether that's the primary way they play, or an additional way to play on the go. I think for us, it really opens up the opportunity to make it much more affordable, and make it more accessible to players. Whether that's going into new regions, or new ways to actually access the Xbox cloud," Ronald explained.
Microsoft has previously explored the idea of a dedicated cloud subscription, potentially supported by ads, something the company may now be revisiting. Meanwhile, Xbox recently expanded Cloud Gaming beyond the Game Pass library, allowing users to stream their own purchased titles, as long as they subscribe to Ultimate.
Plans were also in place to sell games directly via the Xbox app for Android with built-in cloud streaming, but those ambitions were put on hold due to ongoing legal disputes. Still, it's clear that Microsoft views Xbox Cloud as a central part of its future strategy and a more wallet-friendly tier could be just around the corner.
Would you subscribe to a dedicated Xbox Cloud service?
<social>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biXDUvQByBw</social>