Microsoft this week announced changes to Game Pass related to cloud game access. From November 2026, you will need to pay for additional cloud gaming time if you exceed the limits included in your tariff. For Ultimate, the time is 15 hours, which is very short for players.
Jez Corden is from Windows CenterCiting sources within Microsoft, the 15-hour limit was not chosen by accident. According to him, it is at this level that the company reaches a break-even point and the cost of continuing to use cloud servers exceeds the revenue generated by Microsoft. However, Microsoft has not officially confirmed that the 15-hour limit is set based on the break-even level.
This situation may also be affected by increased load on Azure infrastructure. As sources point out, Microsoft is devoting more and more of its server resources and memory to AI-related tasks. This leaves less and less power available for Xbox cloud gaming.
We remind you that there are mainly the following scenarios for using Xbox Cloud Gaming:
- Next-gen gaming on Xbox One.
- Play games on Xbox One or Xbox Series X | S without downloading them directly to the console. This is convenient to use, such as when updating or downloading a game, or just trying it out.
- Launch games from your Xbox library on any convenient device (PC, smartphone, tablet, TV).
Meanwhile, since last year, Cloud Gaming has been able to launch not only games from Game Pass, but also more than 1,000 items from your personal library.
