Xbox charges more for game streaming and adds limits – admits it’s not popular

Cloud streaming on Xbox is about to become a rental service (Xbox) Microsoft is making its cloud gaming service on Xbox even less appealing by limiting how much time you can play games on it and then charging you extra for more. Despite cloud streaming being touted by some as the future of gaming, it’s still yet to break into the mainstream, despite the best efforts of Microsoft and Amazon – and before them Google. Not only that, but Microsoft has admitted that its Xbox Cloud Gaming service isn’t especially popular, as only 4% of Xbox Game Pass subscribers are using it for extended periods of time. This nugget of informat was dropped alongside an announcement that as of November, you’ll only be allowed to play games via cloud streaming for a limited number of hours… unless you pay extra. Currently, all you need to access Xbox Cloud Gaming is an active Game Pass subscription, which is £6.99 a month for its cheapest tier. Come November, you’ll be limited to just five hours a month of play time. The Premium tier of Game Pass, which costs £10.99 a month, bumps the limit up to 10 hours, while the Ultimate tier, which costs £16.99 a month, lets you play for up to 15 hours. Expert, exclusive gaming analysis Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. Once you run out of hours, any further playtime requires you spend more money on additional hours, although Microsoft has yet to share any pricing details on that. ‘We recognise that introducing limits is a meaningful change, particularly for players who regularly spend more time gaming through the cloud. We expect this upcoming change to impact 4% of Game Pass subscribers,’ reads the announcement on Xbox Wire. Don't miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers. Click the button below and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search. Add us as a Preferred Source GameCentral has been delivering unique games news and reviews for over a decade ‘Meaningful’ is certainly one way of describing this change. Xbox games, hardware, and Game Pass have all grown more expensive over the past several years and now the small number of people who make use of cloud streaming are being told they must spend more money for the privilege. Microsoft explains that this change is because ‘the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer. Moving to monthly limits allows us to keep offering the service while continuing to invest in its reliability and performance.’ Except their own comments suggest that not many people are using it and that only 4% are going over these new limits… which begs the question of why have the limits in the first place? This is a significant blow to cloud gaming as a whole, a perhaps an indication that Microsoft recognises it won’t be a major force for some time. Cloud gaming is already a hard sell since it’s reliant on Wi-Fi infrastructure so those with poor internet can’t make use of it and there’s nothing Microsoft can do about that (although their service is often described as inferior to the likes of GeForce Now). You can add this announcement to the growing list of reasons why Xbox is so unpopular nowadays, alongside regular instances of layoffs, game cancellations, studio closures, and confusing messaging. The change also happens to come after Amazon admitted its own Luna cloud service hasn’t been as popular as it wants. Unlike Microsoft, though, Amazon is actively trying to get more people using Luna, by bundling it with Prime Video subscriptions. We doubt that 4% figure of Xbox cloud gamers is going to go up after November (Microsoft) Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. Arrow MORE: The Last Of Us director ‘isn’t done’ with the series as he teases new game Arrow MORE: Lego PlayStation console is a thing of a beauty – with classy Ape Escape homage Arrow MORE: Games Inbox: Did Sony just put on the worst State of Play ever? GameCentral Sign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.