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Xbox Cloud Gaming will now be powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware

Xbox's cloud gaming efforts appear to have leveled up, thanks to the Xbox Series X.

Ozzie Mejia

June 28, 2021 12:50 PM

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While Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has helped open many doors to users on PC and Xbox consoles, Microsoft has also dedicated ample resources towards the cloud gaming route. Xbox games can now be enjoyed on a variety of browsers and mobile devices, though some might argue about their quality. In an effort to improve that quality, Xbox announced on Monday that Xbox Cloud Gaming would now be powered by Xbox Series X hardware.

"Xbox Cloud Gaming is now powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware," reads the post on Xbox Wire. "We've been upgrading Microsoft datacenters around the globe with the fastest, most powerful Xbox hardware to give you faster load times, improved frame rates, and an experience of a new generation of gaming. To ensure the lowest latency, highest quality experience across the broadest set of devices, we will be streaming at 1080p and up to 60fps. Going forward we'll continue to innovate and add more features to enhance your cloud gaming experience."

Even if the performance quality isn't "next-gen," Xbox's cloud gaming ability to run games at 1080p and up to 60fps on a Chrome browser is certainly nothing to sneeze at. Players being able to log into their Microsoft account and access their save files at any time only makes this deal sound sweeter. It also looks like more people will be able to utilize the cloud. Back in April, Xbox Cloud Gaming launched a beta inviting select Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users to play their Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games on Apple phones, tablets, and Windows 10 PCs. That invitation is now open to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers across 22 countries. Those users can jump on the Xbox website and access those games on Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, and Apple Safari browsers. Apologies to Mozilla Firefox users.

Microsoft is promising increased cloud support as time goes on. For now, the Xbox Cloud Gaming service looks to be in a very good place, even if it's wild to see that Microsoft can spare enough Xbox Series X hardware to power this endeavor while consumers are still having trouble finding the new consoles. We'll be keeping an eye on this story here at Shacknews, just as soon as we can tear ourselves away from Golf With Your Friends.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?