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Microsoft's Project xCloud Streaming Game Service Available on iOS Through TestFlight Preview

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Microsoft in September introduced Project xCloud, a service designed to allow gamers to play games on any device, from PCs to consoles to mobile devices.

Project xCloud for mobile devices has been available on Android for a few months now, but as of today, Microsoft is expanding it to the iPhone and iPad through a limited TestFlight beta test.

microsoftxcloud.jpg

The Project xCloud beta test is available in the United States, UK, and Canada, and due to TestFlight restrictions, it is limited to a total of 10,000 testers.

The iOS TestFlight preview is kicking off with a single game, "Halo: The Master Chief Collection" and while the Android test version also includes Xbox Console Streaming, that feature is not available on iOS at this time.

Microsoft says that it anticipates demand will exceed capacity, and that it will be unable to accommodate all applicants. Invites will be provided on a first-come first-served basis.

Participating in the preview requires a Microsoft account and associated Xbox gamertag, a Bluetooth-enabled Xbox One Wireless Controller, an iPhone or iPad running iOS 13 or later, and access to a data connection that supports 10Mb/s down bandwidth.

iOS users who want to sign up for the beta test can do so by signing up on the Project xCloud website.

Microsoft says that it wants to work with Apple to bring the full preview of xCloud to more iOS customers in the future, and that it plans to use the feedback to improve the technology.

Article Link: Microsoft's Project xCloud Streaming Game Service Available on iOS Through TestFlight Preview
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/02/12/microsoft-project-xcloud-ios-testflight-beta/
I take it that means we'll never see Halo: The Master Chief Collection running natively on MacOS.
I kind of miss not being able to run the original Halo: Combat Evolved on MacOS since Catalina ditched 32-bit apps.
 
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I'm participating in the TestFlight now and very glitchy so far. I still can't even get the Halo splash screen to stream steadily. Otherwise, I'm really excited for xCloud!
 
Icaras said:
I'm participating in the TestFlight now and very glitchy so far. I still can't even get the Halo splash screen to stream steadily. Otherwise, I'm really excited for xCloud!
Click to expand...

Interesting. I'm using xcloud on my P4XL and it's working great. The service is currently limited to 720p, but Forza and MCC looked and ran really, really well.


Edit: I didn't read the entire article above, but it's strange that the Android version contains probably 25 different games and the iOS version is limited to just MCC.
 
Icaras said:
I'm participating in the TestFlight now and very glitchy so far. I still can't even get the Halo splash screen to stream steadily. Otherwise, I'm really excited for xCloud!
Click to expand...
How did you get in so quickly? It usually takes a few weeks to hear back- at least that’s what I’ve seen in the past.
 
Just updated my registration from Android to iOS. Fingers crossed!
 
I'm in as well. I got an email thanking me for my interest in xCloud at 1:54 PM. Got a follow up email at 2:21 PM saying I'd been selected. Got another email at 2:40 PM from TestFlight.

The initial email said it could take a few months. lol.....so yeah, surprised to be playing Halo on iOS at all.

So far, it works very well for me. The lag is not bad on my home wifi. Haven't tried out and about yet. Saw a good bit of distortion and screen flicker on iPhone, but not very much at all on iPad.

Unfortunately, my Xbox Elite Series 2 controller will not connect to iOS via BlueTooth. I used my SteelSeries Nimbus controller and it seemed fine until I had to crouch which requires a L3 button press that Nimbus does support. So I may to use a DualShock 4 controller at this point.
 
Hopefully I got in. I've been using an app that lets me stream games from my Xbox to my iPad locally but I can't use my controller with it natively unless I'm within proximity of my Xbox. But it was really nice to chill in bed playing The Outer Worlds when I was sick a bunch back in the autumn.
 
I just found out about this now. We will see I guess if I was too late or not.

Does this mean that apple will approve having the game streaming app on iOS/iPad OS? I thought streaming had to be from your device and local only per the App store rules?
 
That’s awesome. I was just thinking about this the other day. I signed up, but haven’t heard back yet. Funnily enough though, I forgot I signed up back in December. When looking for my welcome email, I saw that they accepted me into the preview program for Android about a month ago lol

Now all that needs to happen is Apple adding support for the Series 2 Elite Controller!
 
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Not a fan of xCloud so far.
For gaming on the Mac nothing beats Nvidia Stream Now. Been using it for 2 years straight and I am blown away. Never thought cloud gaming could work so well.
I am sorry if this sounds like an advertisement but I can literally play all my Windows only Steam Games on my 6 year old MacBook Pro with zero lag or latency for free.

Microsoft is surprisingly late to the game with a (currently) surprisingly disappointing service.
 
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Jmausmuc said:
Not a fan of xCloud so far.
For gaming on the Mac nothing beats Nvidia Stream Now. Been using it for 2 years straight and I am blown away. Never thought cloud gaming could work so well.
I am sorry if this sounds like an advertisement but I can literally play all my Windows only Steam Games on my 6 year old MacBook Pro with zero lag or latency for free.

Microsoft is surprisingly late to the game with a (currently) surprisingly disappointing service.
Click to expand...

So you are on the free tier of Geforce Now? You do have an one hour limitation now that it is out of beta. There is definitely lag and latency....it is just a matter of getting used to it. Regardless, I agree Geforce Now is a great service.

Honestly, after playing for a couple of hours of Halo: CE right after it launched, I can say Project xCloud isn't that far behind. I expect by the time it launches the two will be on even footing.
 
hinleyw12 said:
How did you get in so quickly? It usually takes a few weeks to hear back- at least that’s what I’ve seen in the past.
Click to expand...

Weird. I don't know? It took me less than 30 minutes to get a response.

By the way, playing Halo now and FINALLY, Halo CE is available to play!
 
star-affinity said:
I take it that means we'll never see Halo: The Master Chief Collection running natively on MacOS.
I kind of miss not being able to run the original Halo: Combat Evolved on MacOS since Catalina ditched 32-bit apps.
Click to expand...

oh this is clearly a move by Microsoft to take a stab at Sony’s PlayStation business and using what they learned from their PlayStation mobile attempts before (Xperia mobile line, PSP).
 
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Jmausmuc said:
Not a fan of xCloud so far.
For gaming on the Mac nothing beats Nvidia Stream Now. Been using it for 2 years straight and I am blown away. Never thought cloud gaming could work so well.
I am sorry if this sounds like an advertisement but I can literally play all my Windows only Steam Games on my 6 year old MacBook Pro with zero lag or latency for free.

Microsoft is surprisingly late to the game with a (currently) surprisingly disappointing service.
Click to expand...

Selection seems awfully small on Geforce Now, also very limited regions. Microsoft has servers world wide, streaming games will be easy for them in all regions.

Its a very interesting concept I rather use this instead of building my own multi thousand PC, but..only if it works. A long time ago I played games on a service called OnLive and it kind of worked just like this works now.
 
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DeepIn2U said:
oh this is clearly a move by Microsoft to take a stab at Sony’s PlayStation business and using what they learned from their PlayStation mobile attempts before (Xperia mobile line, PSP).
Click to expand...

Sony is not even remotely in the same league here. As Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, said: Microsoft doesn't see Sony as competition anymore. Google Stadia and Geforce Now are what Microsoft is targeting. And here it comes: Microsoft has a vastly superior infrastructure. They invest over a billion bucks per year into growing their Azure cloud, and they have already spent over 20 billion so far. Sony does not even have a reliable network so far - and they are now beginning to use Microsoft's Azure cloud for their services.

nVidia cannot compete on that level. That leaves Google. Now who has more and older partnerships with the gaming industry? And who actually owns a bunch of AAA game studios?

Microsoft also no longer cares for console exclusive titles -- what they now want are titles that run on their streaming service. And they don't care if you use a PS4 or PS5 to stream those titles.

For Microsoft, all gaming - and all computing - is to take place in their Azure cloud. And they have they resources and power to see this through.
 
Winni said:
Sony is not even remotely in the same league here. As Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox division, said: Microsoft doesn't see Sony as competition anymore. Google Stadia and Geforce Now are what Microsoft is targeting. And here it comes: Microsoft has a vastly superior infrastructure. They invest over a billion bucks per year into growing their Azure cloud, and they have already spent over 20 billion so far. Sony does not even have a reliable network so far - and they are now beginning to use Microsoft's Azure cloud for their services.

nVidia cannot compete on that level. That leaves Google. Now who has more and older partnerships with the gaming industry? And who actually owns a bunch of AAA game studios?

Microsoft also no longer cares for console exclusive titles -- what they now want are titles that run on their streaming service. And they don't care if you use a PS4 or PS5 to stream those titles.

For Microsoft, all gaming - and all computing - is to take place in their Azure cloud. And they have they resources and power to see this through.
Click to expand...

That isn't what Spencer said. He said Google and Amazon were Microsoft's primary competition. And that is true from an overall corporate perspective. From a gaming perspective, Sony is very much a competitor to Microsoft. The fact that they both continue to sell consoles (and will continue to for many years) is proof enough of that. And Xbox gaming uses Azure just like Sony will (probably) use Azure. But Xbox and Project xCloud are not Azure. Azure is bigger than Xbox gaming for MS. A company does not have to own a cloud to have a cloud presence. Microsoft will be happy to take money from Sony for Azure access even though it doesn't do xCloud any favors in helping it to gain market share. In this case, Microsoft and Sony are partners and competitors in the same way Apple and Samsung are both partners and competitors since Apple relies on Samsung for its panels.

So there are four primary players currently in the game streaming market: Sony with PS Now, Google with Stadia, nVidia with Geforce Now, and MS with the up and coming Project xCloud. Only two of those have existing platforms with studios and a massive game development presence: Microsoft and Sony.

For Microsoft, all gaming - and all computing - is to take place in their Azure cloud. And they have they resources and power to see this through.
Click to expand...

That has never been stated as the goal for Azure and gaming with Microsoft. Microsoft wants to expand the net, so to speak, and bring in more gamers into the fold via streaming just like Sony, Google, and nVidia do. As long as their are gamers who want to game locally on their own hardware then most of these companies will be happy to supply them with exactly that: local non-streaming gaming options. The gaming industry was already a huge business before streaming. Why would they shut down such a massive revenue stream? If local gaming goes away it will be because consumers stop playing games locally.
 
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