Microsoft plans to support streaming of Xbox game libraries next month. Sources familiar with Microsoft’s plans say Edge The company is preparing to test the ability to stream games it owns that are not part of the current Xbox Game Pass library.
As part of a long-term project known as Project Lapland within Microsoft, the software giant has outfitted its Xbox Cloud Gaming servers to be able to support streaming thousands of games. I’m told Microsoft will first test Xbox Cloud Gaming’s new streaming capabilities with Xbox Insiders in November, before expanding them to include more Xbox users and more games.
The Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion comes in the same month that Microsoft plans to enable game purchases in the Xbox mobile app for Android in the US. Microsoft can do this thanks to a court ruling earlier this week that forces Google to stop requiring Google Play billing for apps in the Play Store on November 1.
“Starting in November, gamers will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android,” Sarah Bond, head of Xbox, revealed yesterday. Once Microsoft’s work on enabling an entire game library on Xbox Cloud Gaming is complete, you’ll be able to purchase an Xbox game on Android and stream it instantly to your device.
It was Project xCloud It’s supposed to be launched with the game library going live in 2020. Microsoft then announced that it would support your game library on Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2022, but it did not launch that year. He realized the work was complicated by having to set up the main infrastructure for thousands of games, rather than the hundreds that currently exist on Xbox Game Pass. Although thousands of games will soon be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming, I’m told some publishers will hold back certain games due to licensing requirements or deals.
Microsoft is also working on a browser-based Xbox Mobile Store that it was planning to launch in July. The store will initially include deals and in-game items but will grow to include first-party games eventually. Microsoft said in August that testing had begun on the mobile web store and that “work is progressing well and we will have more to share in the future.”
Update, October 11: The article has been updated to mention the original Project xCloud plans.
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