Xbox Insiders Can Now Stream Games by Buying Cloud Playtime Without Game Pass, Introductory Launch Pricing Revealed

Microsoft is now letting Xbox Insiders stream games by buying cloud playtime without a Game Pass subscription. This preview is designed to give Insiders an early look at the new option before it rolls out more broadly next month. Insiders can buy cloud playtime, stream games on supported devices, and share feedback to help us continue improving the experience. Cloud playtime is available to Insiders at introductory launch pricing: 10hrs for $3.99 25hrs for $7.99 50hrs for $11.99 These cloud playtime packs let you play ad-free, and include shorter wait times, high-quality streaming, and playtime that remains available until it's used, Microsoft said. Insiders can also try cloud gaming for free with ads, as another option for accessing cloud gaming without a Game Pass subscription. The cloud gaming options for Game Pass subscribers Microsoft announced last month are still set for November. From next month, Game Pass plans will include a set number of cloud gaming hours each month: Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming monthly limits: Game Pass Ultimate: 15 hours Game Pass Premium: 10 hours Game Pass Essential: 5 hours Once subscribers use their included hours, they can buy additional cloud playtime through the Xbox Store. Currently, Game Pass subscribers can stream without these monthly hour limits. The change means those who use cloud gaming most via Game Pass will end up having to pay more, although Microsoft said this impacts 4% of Game Pass subscribers. Cloud gaming has become a focus as the RAMpocalypse makes console gaming increasingly expensive. Strauss Zelnick, boss of Rockstar parent company Take-Two, recently predicted the video game industry will be in “commercial streaming mode” within three years — but for video game streaming to matter, it would have to run GTA 6 just as well as consoles do. During an investor focused Q&A following the release of Take-Two’s latest financial report, Zelnick was asked for his thoughts on the video game industry as it buckles under the pressure of skyrocketing chip costs, which have forced Sony and Microsoft to raise the price of their consoles and potentially delay the launches of the PlayStation 6 and the next-gen Xbox, codenamed Project Helix. Zelnick admitted the rising cost of hardware “is not a good thing,” because cheaper hardware means more hardware in people’s hands, which is what software companies desire. But he suggested the advent of video game streaming would go a long way to tackling this problem. Both Sony and Microsoft are predicted to lean heavily on streaming in the coming years as they contend with the RAMpocalypse. “I just don't have any insight as to what the console manufacturers have planned, but it wouldn't at all surprise me if part of what they plan is streaming,” Zelnick offered. Just this week, it was reported that the next-gen Xbox may cost as much as $1,800, with a new handheld rumored for next year. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has said the spiralling cost of new and existing consoles would require "radically different business models" over the coming generation. She added that the industry had "reached a point where it will be hard to imagine" mass audiences still being able to afford "thousands of dollars" for a new console generation. The current PS5 and Xbox Series X and S generation of consoles have seen price increases rather than cost savings. Sony itself raised the price of PS5 consoles back in March, blaming “continued pressures in the global economic landscape.” Nintendo has also not been immune, and recently acknowledged it would up the price of Switch 2, just over a year after its arrival. And Valve has bemoaned its struggle to release Steam Machine at the price it had initially hoped, instead having to go for an eye-watering $1,049.