Xbox boss Phil Spencer teases "streaming sticks" and "Xbox Game Pass Platinum"
Cloud formation.
Xbox boss Phil Spencer has teased the launch of streaming sticks for xCloud, as well as a new tier of Xbox Game Pass membership.
In an interview with Stratechery (paywall), Spencer said streaming sticks could be used to plug into TVs in order to play games via xCloud.
"I think you're going to see lower priced hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think about streaming sticks and other things that somebody might want to just go plug into their TV and go play via xCloud," Spencer said (via The Verge).
"You could imagine us even having something that we just included in the Game Pass subscription that gave you an ability to stream xCloud games to your television and buying the controller."
According to a report by Windows Central, Microsoft worked on a streaming dongle similar to Chromecast, and was even set to reveal it at E3 2016, but it failed to materialise. Perhaps now, four years later, the time is right.
Spencer also teased the launch of new tiers of Xbox Game Pass membership, including Xbox Game Pass Platinum. This would include free, guaranteed access to new Xbox hardware. As The Verge points out, Xbox All Access is an existing payment plan that includes either an Xbox Series X or S, and 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Microsoft launched cloud gaming in September with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. This lets you play over 100 games on your Android mobile phone or tablet from the cloud with a subscription. Earlier this month, Spencer revealed Microsoft is working on bringing xCloud to PC and Xbox, too, and said the company wants to let Game Pass subscribers use xCloud to demo games on Xbox and PC instead of having to download them.