Microsoft’s cloud gaming service coming to iOS and PC in spring 2021

By Giovanni Colantonio December 9, 2020

Microsoft has announced plans to expand its cloud gaming service, formerly known as Project xCloud, to more devices in 2021. The service will be available on PC and iOS this spring.

The company outlined its plans in a blog post that explains how integration with new devices will work. For the iPhone and iPad, users will need to use a mobile web browser to access cloud gaming. That’s likely a workaround designed to deal with Apple’s restrictions against all-in-one services like Stadia.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to access cloud gaming on Windows PC through the Xbox app. Both the iOS and PC updates are slated for a spring 2021 release.

As part of the changes, cloud gaming will expand to more markets next year. Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico are among the locations getting full cloud gaming access in 2021. Limited testing recently began in those markets.

In addition to the cloud streaming updates, the blog post lists a batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2021. It includes Psychonauts 2, Skatebird, and Halo Infinite, which is now slated for a fall 2021 release following its indefinite delay from the Xbox Series X launch day.

The announcement highlights some recent statistics for the company coming off its new console launches. Microsoft says that over 1.6 million next-gen game upgrades were delivered with its Smart Delivery feature.

The company says it has more surprises in store, teasing that it will make announcements during tomorrow’s Game Awards broadcast. Make sure to check our guide on how to tune in so you don’t miss the show.

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Giovanni Colantonio

Section Editor, Gaming

Giovanni is a writer and video producer focusing on happenings in the video game industry. He has contributed stories to…

Gaming

Microsoft gives Activision Blizzard cloud gaming rights to Ubisoft

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Microsoft announced its intention to grant Ubisoft, the publisher behind series like Assassin's Creed and Far Cry, the cloud streaming rights for Activision Blizzard titles if Microsoft's acquisition of the Call of Duty publisher goes through.
This deal was made in order to appease the U.K.'s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Microsoft has not had an easy time trying to acquire Activision Blizzard as it has run into heavy resistance from regulatory bodies like the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the U.K.'s CMA. The CMA's complaints centered around the potential monopoly Microsoft could have on cloud gaming if the deal were to go through. There was speculation that Microsoft would divest its U.K. cloud gaming efforts to appease the CMA, but it has now presented this new plan that would technically make it give up control of Activision Blizzard game-streaming rights worldwide for the next 15 years.
In a blog post, Microsoft President Brad Smith explainsed that if the Activision Blizzard acquisition happens, Microsoft will give "cloud streaming rights for all current and new Activision Blizzard PC and console games released over the next 15 years" in perpetuity following a one-off payment.
Essentially, Ubisoft will be the one deciding which cloud gaming platforms and services to put Activision Blizzard games on, not Microsoft. Smith claims that this means "Microsoft will not be in a position either to release Activision Blizzard games exclusively on its own cloud streaming service -- Xbox Cloud Gaming -- or to exclusively control the licensing terms of Activision Blizzard games for rival services," and that Ubisoft will allow them to honor existing agreements with companies like Nvidia.

Ubisoft has been cloud gaming friendly over the past several years, eagerly putting its games on services like Google Stadia and Amazon Luna. With this deal, Ubisoft says it plans to bring Activision Blizzard games to its Ubisoft+ subscription service. Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick also commented on the deal, saying that he approves of the deal, but that "nothing substantially changes with the addition of this divestiture" for Activision Blizzard and its investors.
The current deadline for Microsoft's Activision Blizzard acquisition is October 18.

Gaming

Netflix games may be coming to TVs soon, as revealed by new iOS app

Selecting a game in Netflix Games.

It looks like Netflix might be expanding its gaming offerings to TVs soon, as a Netflix Game Controller is now on the iOS App Store. Netflix has yet to announce or comment on the purpose of the app, but a message shown when the app boots up confirms that it's coming.
Netflix has slowly made its way into the gaming industry over the past couple of years, acquiring studios and adding a dedicated game section to its mobile app that lets players download premium mobile games. The library includes some great games like Poinpy and Before Your Eyes, but has yet to break into the mainstream, likely due to its somewhat obscure availability. This new app, which was preemptively listed on Apple's storefront by Netflix and lines up with leaks from earlier this year, indicates that Netflix Games are coming to the TV.
The description for the app states that "this Game Controller app pairs with your TV and allows you to play games on Netflix using your phone or mobile device." After downloading and booting up the app, Digital Trends discovered two more messages asking players to "choose a game on your TV and follow the directions to connect" and that "Netflix Games on TV are in beta. Some devices may not be supported at this time."
All of this points to an impending beta rollout for games on Netflix's TV apps, which has not been announced yet. As such, we don't have any idea about which televisions or games the iOS app or Netflix Games on TV will support just yet. Regardless, this looks like a massive evolution for Netflix's gaming efforts, especially as it gears up to release a cloud gaming service.
Netflix declined to comment on the program when asked by Digital Trends, but it did refer us to previous statements it made about its intentions to break into cloud and TV game streaming.

Gaming

FTC v. Microsoft: 5 surprising revelations from the court hearing that you need to know

Call of Duty Warzone screenshot of 3 characters walking towards the camera.

We have reached an inflection point in Microsoft’s efforts to acquire Call of Duty and World of Warcraft publisher Activision Blizzard as the FTC’s lawsuit to stop it went before a judge. Representatives from Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, Google, and Nvidia chimed in during the hearing, as did a variety of analysts presenting data to help determine whether or not this acquisition will hurt competition in the console and cloud gaming markets.
As the video game industry is quite buttoned-up and secretive, this trial has given us an unprecedented look behind the curtain at Xbox, PlayStation, and Activision’s motivations, past claims and mistakes they made, and more. In a case filled with revelations, these five details were a particularly illuminating look into the video game industry's inner workings.
Microsoft revealed its real cloud gaming motivation

Since 2019, Microsoft has been one of the video game industry’s biggest purveyors of cloud gaming alongside the likes of Nvidia, Amazon, and Google. It previously claimed that its primary goal with this was to get its hardcore games like Halo in front of as many people as possible, but this trial has revealed a secondary motivation. Microsoft hoped cloud gaming would give them an edge in the mobile gaming market, where Xbox has struggled to establish itself.
“We built xCloud knowing that on Xbox we have many games that run on our console,” Head of Xbox Phil Spencer explained. “There are many users around the world that have phones that aren’t able to play those games, nor will they be. Our strategy was to put consoles in our data centers to stream those consoles to a mobile phone, so if someone wanted to play Halo on a mobile phone, they would have access to those games through streaming.
It didn’t work out that way, though. Xbox’s VP of Game Creator Experience, Sarah Bond, testified that the most common use for cloud gaming is not mobile play but console players trying out a game before or during a download. Because cloud gaming is a sticking point for the CMA, Microsoft wants to downplay its relevancy to Xbox’s business, but, as I wrote in April, it might be too late for them to do that. Even if cloud gaming’s future is as a supplementary service on consoles, it’s sticking around as one of the central aspects of dissent against the acquisition. The future of cloud gaming is just playing out in a way no one predicted when it re-rose to prominence four years ago.
Activision regrets not putting Call of Duty on Nintendo Switch