Xbox Cloud Gaming is working on launching an ad-supported tier for later this year

Will Sattelberg | Jan 19 2026 - 8:58 am PT

Gaming is rapidly becoming a much more expensive hobby than it used to be, especially on the hardware front. Microsoft could be looking to reduce overall costs for gamers later this year through its Xbox Cloud Gaming initiative, but it’s not going to happen without some drawbacks.

As reported by Windows Central, gamers utilizing Microsoft’s cloud gaming platform have spotted new messages while launching the platform specifically calling out “1 hour of ad-supported playtime per session.” While its current appearance is an obvious error — Microsoft has yet to launch any ad-supported tier — it certainly points to growing evidence of more subscription changes coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming in the coming months. Windows Central‘s own insiders were able to confirm that an ad-supported plan is in the works for later in 2026.

It’s a change that makes plenty of sense for Xbox, which has failed to find as much consistent success as rivals Sony or Nintendo in gaming since the days of the seventh-gen consoles (and even then, the Xbox 360 eventually fell to third place within that generation, despite an early lead ahead of the PS3. With memory, storage, GPUs, and seemingly any other PC component potentially needed by AI companies — including Microsoft — quickly rising prices across practically every consumer electronic, it’s easy to see why Xbox Cloud Gaming could serve as a more affordable path for some gamers, even with some pretty obvious trade-offs.

Xbox Cloud Gaming wouldn’t be the first cloud platform to add a free tier; Nvidia’s GeForce Now currently gives its users an ad-supported hour of 1080p gaming at absolutely no cost. It’s unclear whether Microsoft would follow suit on delivering something for free, or if this would be closer in line with TV streaming options, where ad-supported tiers are only subsidized. While I’m sure plenty of gamers — myself included — don’t feel completely comfortable with the idea of giving up on owned hardware altogether, this could give more casual players a way to dip their toes into current-gen titles, all without needing to drop $500 or more on an Xbox.