Xbox Cloud Gaming releases first community update

Microsoft released its first Xbox Cloud Gaming community update, featuring Xbox Cloud Gaming VP and Head of Platform Kevin LaChapelle and VP and Head of Product Catherine Gluckstein. The report gives fans some insights into the current state of its cloud service and the improvements made by the Xbox team. Aside from those things, the first community report probably means one thing: Xbox Could might be expanding even further in the future.

That is not far from reality, especially after Gluckstein mentioned that Xbox Cloud Gaming’s hourly usage is “up more than 1800% since this time last year.” The team has already made a lot of progress in improving the service, including making it accessible on different devices aside from consoles and making Cloud Gaming just more attractive to all kinds of gamers.

“Over the last year, we’ve focused on expanding Cloud Gaming to new players on more devices and markets,” said Xbox Cloud Gaming Product Manager Stephanie Sevilla. “Today, with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription in certain markets, you can play games from your PC, phone, tablet, or console, like Batman: Arkham Knight, Crusader Kings III, Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, or MLB: The Show 22. Or you could pick one of the many Xbox Game Studio titles, such as Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator, or Halo Infinite. If you’re on the go and don’t have a controller with you, no problem. Minecraft Dungeons, Tunic, Hades, and HItman 3 are examples of touch-enabled games that can be played without a physical controller.”

In addition, the team mentions the launching of the Xbox app on Samsung 2022 smart TVs, which further expands the choices of gamers on where to play their games. According to Nicole Hilbert, a product manager of the Xbox Cloud Gaming team, there are also some improvements in different sections of Cloud Gaming. Aside from the changes in the touch controls (location of the menu buttons on the screen and adjusting menu button transparency) and the new friend chatting on iOS, the team also introduced performance and latency improvements to the streaming gameplay for iOS and Android players, allowing more responsive and smoother stream playback on devices.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is already available in 22 markets, and two of its recent additions are Argentina and New Zealand. And with the team’s aspiration to continue the progress and current success gracing the service, LaChapelle encouraged the Cloud Gaming community to keep participating in the efforts the Xbox Cloud Gaming team is making through feedback.

“The feedback is so important,” LaChapelle said. “We read everything that you share with us, and more to the point, if you have ideas about how we can improve your gameplay experience, please share that because a number of you have already done that, and you know, I’d like to tell you that a lot of those ideas are coming to fruition in the near future.”