Microsoft has made it clear that the future of Xbox is no longer console exclusive titles, but rather growing the brand to be accessible from as many platforms as possible. This all started when four previously console-exclusive titles went multiplatform over a year ago: Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, Grounded, and Pentiment. Clearly, Microsoft was happy with the results, as MachineGames’ Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is officially releasing on the PlayStation 5 tomorrow, April 17. Last November, Microsoft rolled out the “This Is an Xbox” campaign and then confirmed a new feature that would allow players to stream select games through TVs and browsers on supported devices. At the time, it confirmed it had plans to expand the feature to Xbox consoles.
That day has arrived, because Game Pass Ultimate members can now stream select games they own on their Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One consoles. This allows members to save time and hard drive space to play their games immediately, without needing to download and install them first. The service will continue to add more games, and currently Game Pass Ultimate members can stream from a library of over 100 cloud-playable games on supported devices, including Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices, Meta Quest headsets, and browser-supported devices like PCs, smartphones, and tablets.
One of the Xbox community’s most-requested features is finally coming to the Xbox app. Soon, players will be able to purchase games and add-on content, join Game Pass, and redeem Perks from the Xbox app on mobile. It’s surprising it has taken until 2025 for Xbox to support it, but better late than never. It will start to roll out to beta users on iOS and Android and will be available soon for everyone.
Xbox Remote Play is also expanding its compatible devices, now allowing players to enjoy any game installed on their console by visiting a website on any device with a supported web browser. As a result, Xbox Remote Play will no longer be available on the Xbox app on mobile, since players can now access it from their browser. Along with streaming from the web, Xbox remote play is being added to supported Samsung Smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV devices, and Meta Quest headsets. Xbox also announced that starting this month, backward compatible games from the original Xbox and Xbox 360 will be streamable via remote play across all supported devices.
Minor features that were also announced include a Free Up Space option that will give recommendations on what to delete if Xbox users need more storage. Players can find it under My Games & Apps > Manage > Free up space. Finally, new game hubs have arrived on Xbox consoles, which show relevant information about the game selected, including player stats, achievements, friends currently playing the game, recent captures, available add-ons, events, and more.
If you’ve been enjoying South of Midnight this month, there’s a new dynamic background for Xbox Series X|S consoles. While South of Midnight doesn’t really bring anything new to the industry, it’s a solid experience that I enjoyed spending my time with.
