Microsoft may already be putting pieces of its rumored Game Pass overhaul into place. A recent report claimed that Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is planning a major rethink of the subscription service that could let players pay separately for features such as cloud gaming, multiplayer, and console-only games. Xbox has now started testing a pay-as-you-go version of Cloud Gaming that does not require a Game Pass subscription.
Xbox Cloud Gaming now has an hourly price
Xbox Insiders without an active Game Pass subscription can buy 10 hours of cloud playtime for $3.99, 25 hours for $7.99, or 50 hours for $11.99. The packs are ad-free and promise shorter wait times and higher-quality streaming. More importantly, you are not buying a monthly allowance. Any unused hours stay on your account until you eventually use them, which makes the pay-as-you-go option more practical for someone who only jumps into cloud gaming occasionally.
Interestingly enough, as Tom Warren points out, Xbox has started testing this service suspiciously close to the launch window of GTA 6, which the company’s CSO, Matthew Ball, has already confirmed Xbox has obtained streaming rights to. In theory, anyone with an Xbox account, a copy of GTA 6, and enough cloud hours should be able to stream the game on a supported device, but the chances of that being possible are rather slim. Ball has already clarified that GTA 6 will not be streamed to PC, which likely rules out PC browsers as well, so the full picture is still a little unclear.
You still need to buy the games
Paying for cloud hours does not unlock the Game Pass catalog. Players still need to own a supported cloud-playable Xbox game, or choose an eligible free-to-play title. A copy purchased only through another PC storefront such as Steam does not appear to give you the Xbox entitlement required for cloud streaming. Xbox Insiders can now access the new pay-as-you-go packs at introductory prices, with the service scheduled to roll out more broadly in November.