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Xbox wants you to pay 24 to 40 cents per hour to stream games you already bought
Ars Technica • • general
Key Points:
- Microsoft has launched a la carte Cloud Playtime purchases for Xbox Insiders, allowing non-subscribers to buy streaming hours for games they own, with introductory prices ranging from $4 for 10 hours to $12 for 50 hours.
- Purchased playtime does not expire until fully used, but the model requires owning the game separately, meaning players pay both for the game and streaming time, unlike Xbox Game Pass’s all-you-can-play subscription.
- This pay-per-hour streaming approach recalls old arcade models and contrasts with previous services like Google Stadia and Sony’s PlayStation Now, which offered unlimited or rental-based streaming but faced challenges with pricing and value.
- Xbox Insiders can also access free, ad-supported streaming with lower quality and longer wait times, while paid users receive better performance, indicating a tiered experience based on payment.
- Microsoft notes that only a small fraction of Game Pass subscribers used extensive cloud streaming, raising questions about demand among non-subscribers who must pay hourly for streaming access to games they already own.
