Industry insiders are reporting to several news outlets that Microsoft is getting ready to announce a version of Xbox Cloud Gaming supported with ads, with some employees testing the service to play selected titles for free without having a Game Pass subscription.

According to The Verge, the new version of Cloud Gaming will allow users to stream games they own, alongside some eligible "Free Play Days" titles, letting users try out games over a weekend. The Verge's sources also claim that the testing currently has two minutes of preroll ads before the game is available to be streamed for free, with the current limit being allowing up 1 hour of streaming session, with the maximum being 5 hours per month.

This ad-support free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming will be available for PCs, Xbox devices as well as handheld devices, and through the web. with an apparent public beta about to be released soon, with a full launch in upcoming months after the public beta.

Source

 

[Idaho]

I mean yeah free gaming and all you have to do is watch a few ads. People will still complain about this.

I mean yeah, Microsoft monopoly over gaming distribution and all you have to do is watch a few ads. People will still complain about this...

GamePass is a trap that nobody should walk into, if enough people get into it, it'll be Netflix all over again but for video games and nobody want that kind of shit to happen...

Do you really want that in 10 years everyone is consuming video games through stupid subscriptions and you can't have the video games you want if you're not subscribed to the 10 subscription based services that each cost 30USD a month?

Here's a chance to try a game for free
What I gotta watch a 2 minute ad?

We have try before you buy at home and it's called piracy, stop trying to re-invent everything and make it look cool, and really who cares if it's legal or not?

 

[ChronosNotashi]

We have try before you buy at home and it's called piracy, stop trying to re-invent everything and make it look cool, and really who cares if it's legal or not?

Or demos, for devs/pubs that decide to go that route with their game (they didn't for a while, but been seeing a resurgence here and there). Even the recently-released Digimon Story: Time Stranger has a demo (which I recently installed on my Steam Deck, and plan to try when I have the chance). Point being: even on the legal side, we've had the whole "Try Before You Buy" deal WITHOUT Microsoft's "free" Xbox Cloud Gaming service that will no doubt limit your total playtime to 5 hours each month.

 

[Viri]

Does anyone remember when Microsoft fired like 9000 people, and then a day later, one of the employees posted this? The screen is of course backwards, because why wouldn't it be?

Spoiler

He's also the lead graphics employee, because of course he is.

This should tell you how much Microsoft cares about Xbox.