{"id":1345754,"date":"2025-10-03T20:17:41","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/M8QFL4bES2bvHLcWHfhWjm"},"modified":"2025-10-03T20:17:41","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:17:41","slug":"as-game-pass-prices-get-laughably-high-microsoft-is-reportedly-spinning-up-a-free-version-of-xbox-cloud-gaming-but-of-course-youll-have-to-sit-through-ads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/as-game-pass-prices-get-laughably-high-microsoft-is-reportedly-spinning-up-a-free-version-of-xbox-cloud-gaming-but-of-course-youll-have-to-sit-through-ads\/","title":{"rendered":"As Game Pass prices get laughably high, Microsoft is reportedly spinning up a free version of Xbox Cloud Gaming\u2014but of course you&#8217;ll have to sit through ads"},"content":{"rendered":"<article>\n<p>Earlier this week, Microsoft announced an <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/game-pass-gets-major-price-hike-to-offer-more-flexibility-choice-and-value-microsoft-says-with-a-completely-straight-face\/\" target=\"_blank\">up to 50% price increase<\/a> for Xbox Game Pass, offering the compelling value proposition of &#8220;What if one month&#8217;s access to a new Xbox-published game cost almost a quarter of the price of just buying the damn thing and owning it forever?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft&#8217;s explanation for the price hike was that it was seeking to offer &#8220;more flexibility, choice, and value,&#8221; and it&#8217;s apparently got similarly flexible plans for game streaming\u2014assuming you don&#8217;t mind sitting through ads to enjoy it. According to reporting at The Verge, sources at Microsoft say that the company has been running internal tests of a free, ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, with a public beta test and full launch planned in the coming months.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sources tell me the internal testing includes around two minutes of preroll ads before a game is available to stream for free through Xbox Cloud Gaming. Microsoft is also currently testing a limit of one hour for sessions, with up to five hours free a month,&#8221; The Verge&#8217;s Tom Warren writes. &#8220;These limits may well change when the service is officially launched.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The ad-supported offering would, according to those sources, allow you to stream &#8220;some&#8221; games you own, alongside eligible trials from Xbox Free Play Days and Xbox Retro Classics games.<\/p>\n<p>Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/12\/13\/23999661\/microsoft-xbox-cloud-gaming-free-version-ads\" target=\"_blank\">publicly alluded<\/a> to a potential ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier in 2023. But considering the longer wait times and lower resolution cloud streaming being offered to Essential and Premium-tier Game Pass subscribers as part of the new pricing scheme, it&#8217;s probably safe to assume that users of the free version will be enjoying a less-than-optimal experience during their hypothetical five hours a month.<\/p>\n<p>What&#8217;s unclear, however, is whether subscribers to the PC-only Game Pass plan\u2014which is the only Game Pass tier that makes no mention of Cloud Gaming\u2014will only have access to the ad-supported Cloud Gaming option. Pricing aside, that exact confusion over the specifics of what, exactly, you&#8217;re meant to be paying for is a massive part of what makes Game Pass so maddening.<\/p>\n<p>Personally, if you&#8217;re only looking to stream games you already own on your local network, I&#8217;d recommend the free, open-source solution of self-hosting <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/docs.lizardbyte.dev\/projects\/sunshine\/latest\/\" target=\"_blank\">Sunshine<\/a> on your gaming PC and streaming to your other devices via <a data-analytics-id=\"inline-link\" href=\"https:\/\/moonlight-stream.org\/\" target=\"_blank\">Moonlight<\/a>. You&#8217;ll still be installing and running games on your hardware, but it&#8217;s given me the best results when I&#8217;m looking to escape from the confines of my desk while enjoying good picture quality and low latency.<\/p>\n<p>And, you know, no ads.<\/p>\n<div class=\"product\"><a data-dimension112=\"f00623f2-a08f-434f-ad91-bdea3d83c9fe\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><\/p>\n<figure class=\"van-image-figure \" >\n<div class='image-full-width-wrapper'>\n<div class='image-widthsetter' style=\"max-width:400px;\">\n<p class=\"vanilla-image-block\" style=\"padding-top:100.00%;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"Vji3V6i3HDWUHeQ22PrjFL\" name=\"New Project (8).jpg\" caption=\"\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/as-game-pass-prices-get-laughably-high-microsoft-is-reportedly-spinning-up-a-free-version-of-xbox-cloud-gaming-but-of-course-youll-have-to-sit-through-ads.jpg\" mos=\"\" align=\"middle\" fullscreen=\"\" width=\"400\" height=\"400\" attribution=\"\" endorsement=\"\" credit=\"\" class=\"\"><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/games\/new-games-2025-upcoming-pc-release-schedule\/\" target=\"_blank\" data-dimension112=\"f00623f2-a08f-434f-ad91-bdea3d83c9fe\" data-action=\"Deal Block\" data-label=\"2025 games\" data-dimension48=\"2025 games\" data-dimension25=\"\"><strong>2025 games<\/strong><\/a>: This year&#8217;s upcoming releases<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Our all-time favorites<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-50-best-free-pc-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Free PC games<\/strong><\/a>: Freebie fest<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-fps-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best FPS games<\/strong><\/a>: Finest gunplay<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/best-rpgs-of-all-time\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best RPGs<\/strong><\/a>: Grand adventures<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/the-best-co-op-games\/\" target=\"_blank\"><strong>Best co-op games<\/strong><\/a>: Better together<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pcgamer.com\/gaming-industry\/as-game-pass-prices-get-laughably-high-microsoft-is-reportedly-spinning-up-a-free-version-of-xbox-cloud-gaming-but-of-course-youll-have-to-sit-through-ads\/\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Earlier this week, Microsoft announced an up to 50% price increase for Xbox Game Pass, offering the compelling value proposition of &#8220;What if one month&#8217;s access to a new Xbox-published game cost almost a quarter of the price of just buying the damn thing and owning it forever?&#8221; Microsoft&#8217;s explanation for the price hike was that it was seeking to offer &#8220;more flexibility, choice, and value,&#8221; and it&#8217;s apparently got similarly flexible plans for game streaming\u2014assuming you don&#8217;t mind sitting through ads to enjoy it. According to reporting at The Verge, sources at Microsoft say that the company has been running internal tests of a free, ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming, with a public beta test and full launch planned in the coming months.&hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"excerpt-more\"><a class=\"blog-excerpt button\" href=\"https:\/\/arcader.org\/news\/as-game-pass-prices-get-laughably-high-microsoft-is-reportedly-spinning-up-a-free-version-of-xbox-cloud-gaming-but-of-course-youll-have-to-sit-through-ads\/\">Read More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1345755,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[336],"tags":[5491],"class_list":["post-1345754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pc-gamer","tag-gaming-industry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - 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