A first look at Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming on iOS and the web

Microsoft today began inviting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to test their Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) service on their iPhone and iPad. The service works through web browsers, allowing it to run on PCs and Macs on Edge, Chrome or Safari. We were able to take an early look at this beta and see how Xbox Cloud Gaming works on an iPhone or iPad.

The web interface for xCloud (yes, we’ll call it xCloud) is very simple to use. It extends to devices such as iPhone, iPad or even a large monitor attached to a PC to provide quick access to games. Microsoft has even included a search interface, which is strangely missing from rival Google Stage service.

You do not need to install any applications or extensions; works natively in Chrome, Safari or Edge. All you need is a compatible USB or Bluetooth controller. Some games even work with Xbox Touch controls, so you don’t need a controller if you’re happy to touch the screen and play. I was able to quickly start games using an Xbox Elite 2 controller paired with an iPhone 11 Pro.

Once you launch a game, you will have to wait a long enough time for it to actually load. Like xCloud on Android, the backend servers for streaming Xbox games from Microsoft are actually Xbox One S consoles. This older Xbox hardware is not powered by a modern processor or SSD, so game loads are affected as a result. However, Microsoft plans to upgrade the xCloud servers to Xbox Series X hardware at some point this year.

I’ve only been playing xCloud on the internet for a few hours, so it’s hard to judge the experience, but I’ve definitely had a lot of connection issues, both wireless and wired with my desktop computer. Microsoft says it’s working on a routing issue with this beta, but it’s worth pointing out that this is a testing service and it’s just released, so hiccups like this are to be expected.

Once the connection is established, it is very similar to xCloud on Android. If you run this through a web browser on a PC or iPad, you will even get a 1080p stream. It looks like I’m playing on an Xbox in the cloud and there’s a dashboard that allows me to access friends, party discussions, achievements and game invitations. All of these are offered by the Xbox Game Pass, so over 100 games are available – and even some original Xbox and Xbox 360 titles that can be streamed.

Microsoft has not yet said when the company intends to launch this more widely, but given the early connection issues, it is clear that there is still work to be done until the web version is available to everyone. However, it’s impressive how well this extends across multiple devices and opens up the ability to stream Xbox games to almost any device that has a Chromium or Safari browser.

I also tried this version of xCloud browser on the new Edge app for Xbox consoles, but it’s not fully supported yet. Both the service and the browser are in early beta right now, so full support may come later. Anyway, I imagine that xCloud will reach Xbox consoles by being able to quickly stream a game while you wait for it to download in the background. In this case, xCloud makes sense on a console that can already play Xbox games.

This browser-based version of xCloud opens up the service to many other possibilities. Xbox boss Phil Spencer has previously suggested streaming TV sticks for xCloud, and Microsoft has already committed to bringing the service to Facebook Gaming at some point. It’s easy to imagine Xbox Game Streaming apps for smart TVs, along with the ability to access the service in web browsers to ensure that almost any device can access an Xbox Game Pass subscription. This is clearly Microsoft’s goal here, and this beta seems to be just the beginning.