Xbox Game Streaming

Xbox Game Pass will soon stream purchased games and gain Samsung Smart TV app

Kyle Bradshaw | Jun 9 2022 - 5:00 am PT

Later this year, Xbox Game Pass will match Stadia’s ability to purchase games for streaming and gain a Samsung Smart TV app.

Today, Microsoft shared its vision for the future of gaming, with a surprisingly heavy focus on new features and enhancements for Xbox Game Pass streaming. At the forefront of the news is a feature that fans of cloud gaming have been asking for, the ability to stream and play games that you’ve purchased.

Through Game Pass Ultimate today, you can instantly play the hundreds of titles available in the Game Pass streaming library, but as the library shifts with time, it’s possible to lose access to games you enjoy. Starting later this year, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to play “select games” they’ve purchased, via the cloud.

One of the things that [gamers] told us is, “Hey, we would love to be able to stream games that we own, even if they’re not in the Game Pass catalog.” And so later this year, if you are a Game Pass Ultimate member, you will be able to stream from the cloud games you purchase and games that you already own as long as they’re cloud-enabled in the catalog.
— Ashley McKissick, Corporate Vice President, Gaming Experience & Platforms

In the near term, Microsoft also announced a partnership with Samsung to make a Game Pass Streaming app for televisions. The app will launch on the 2022 generation of Samsung Smart TVs on June 30 and will be found in the Gaming Hub. For those of us who purchased something in a different TV ecosystem, Microsoft also intends to “explore other TV partnerships” for Game Pass in the future, as has previously been hinted.

For developers – and fans of early access games – Microsoft has also unveiled what it calls “Project Moorcroft,” which will let gamers get their hands on demos of upcoming Xbox games. Players will benefit by getting to try games ahead of their launch, while developers will gain valuable feedback and revenue during the preview period. Microsoft will begin making Project Moorcroft available to indie developers later this year.

Lastly, Xbox Game Pass streaming is expanding into Argentina and New Zealand today, including gameplay from Android, iOS, Windows, and more. With these additions, Game Pass streaming is now available in 28 regions around the world.

Images: Microsoft