After several months of testing Microsoft has made its Android-compatible video game subscription service official: Game pass is now available in the Google Play Store. The service requires an Ultimate subscription. And it allows you to play in the Microsoft cloud to a selection that will reach more than 150 titles.
The world of video games is currently in a process of change. On the one hand, brands continue to launch physical machines (the Xbox Series X / S and Playstation 5 they are about to caramel); on the other hand running games in the cloud heralds a future that is already available today. Microsoft wants to lead the transition between the two models with Game Pass, its game subscription service that not only works for Xbox and PC, but also for Android. And it’s official: you can play console games from your mobile, all through the cloud.
The game in the cloud from Android mobiles is in beta
Halo 5 on Android Until now, the xCloud project had a preview under invitation which allowed Android users to run Microsoft games from their cloud. We were able to test first-hand access to the catalog and also the execution of the games, all without complications and with connection stability, negligible latency and a fairly good video quality. And this preview is over: Microsoft blocked access to all users of the preview once Game Pass is official on Android.
Game Pass has a stable application on Android, a beta and the preview, which we talked about in the previous paragraph. This preview is obsolete and the stable version does not support the game in the cloud, so you have to download Game Pass beta if you want to play Xbox and PC games from your Android.
Microsoft Game Pass
- Price: Free (download)
- Developer: Microsoft
- To download: For Android on Google Play
The process to start Microsoft cloud games on your Android is as follows:
- Install the Game Pass app in beta. Remember: the stable does not include the cloud game yet.
- You need an active Game Pass Ultimate subscription. If you didn’t subscribe before you can access the first one for 1 euro.
- Once you have the Game Pass Ultimate subscription active, open the Game Pass app on your Android and log in with your Microsoft account (it must be the same one you use for the Ultimate subscription).
- Connect a remote to your mobile. You can use most physical controllers, such as the Xbox or the PlayStation 4.
- You will see that, once the app starts, all the games have the option of running in the cloud, downloading them to the console or to the PC. Clicking on any of them with active cloud option it will make them run on Microsoft’s servers, streaming the game to your Android.
We have verified that the streaming works perfectly on several Android mobiles, also on Android TV (installing the Apk, in Google Play it does not appear as compatible). The cloud game catalog does not yet cover the entire Game Pass, but Microsoft gives gradually making it compatible. Without a doubt, it is a great option if you want a good catalog accessible from anywhere: Game Pass offers more than 150 games.
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The news
Microsoft Game Pass is now official: so you can play all Xbox and PC games on your Android
was originally published in
Xataka Android
by
Ivan Linares
.
