Xbox Cloud Gaming could soon be free – with limitations

Xbox Cloud Gaming allows you to play games without installing them locally. Instead of running on your own PC or console, the games are rendered in Microsoft’s data centers and streamed to your device – whether it's a smartphone, tablet or smart TV. Currently, the service isn’t offered as a standalone option but is included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. That could be about to change.

Tom Warren from The Verge shared a UI message on X that other users have reportedly seen as well: “1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session.” Microsoft insider Jez Corden suspects the message may have been activated unintentionally, but it clearly points to ad-supported – and likely free – access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. What makes this especially interesting is Corden’s claim that the feature wouldn’t apply to the Game Pass catalog, but to games purchased directly from the Microsoft Store, which could then be streamed without a subscription.

In today’s tough console market – where Microsoft is widely seen as having lost the battle against Sony’s PlayStation – cloud gaming has become a key growth area for the Xbox brand and a step toward hardware-independent gaming. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising if Microsoft aimed to strengthen its cloud offering with this approach.

The downside is that free cloud gaming wouldn’t just include ads – it would also come with strict time limits. According to the UI message, each session would be limited to one hour, and it’s still unclear how many sessions users could start per day. The idea has received mixed reactions on X. Some users are skeptical and concerned about an increasing amount of ads in the Xbox ecosystem, while others are more open – as long as the ads are brief and only shown before the game starts, and the service truly remains free.