Now yes, we already have a date for the arrival of the preliminary version of Project xCloud, Microsoft streaming service that will allow you to play many games from the cloud using an Android mobile phone and an Xbox wireless controller with Bluetooth connectivity.
Try Project xCloud now
Microsoft has announced that Project xCloud will launch its trial period today in Germany, France and the Netherlands, and it will not be until next week when Spain, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Ireland, Italy, Norway and Sweden will receive their turn. In the words of Project xCloud General Manager and Head of Product Catherine Gluckstein:
“In partnership with Microsoft's Azure team, we are actively monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on internet performance in Western Europe and believe we can responsibly start rolling out our preview in the region in a phased manner. We will start in each country with a small number of participants and increase that number over time to avoid saturating regional bandwidth. We are excited that new players from Western Europe are joining the fun, giving Project xCloud a try and helping us shape the future of streaming gaming.”
What do you need to play with Project xCloud?
The first thing you should do is register with a Microsoft account in the program preview version. To do so, all you have to do is visit the official website of the service to enter your credentials and complete the registration form. If you are accepted, you will receive a confirmation email so you can continue with the process.
On a technical level, we will need some requirements to connect to the service. They are the following:
Have a Microsoft account and an Xbox gamertag. If you don't have, you can create them here.
- A phone or tablet with Android 6.0 or higher and Bluetooth version 4.0.
- An Xbox One Wireless Controller with Bluetooth. Please refer to this technical support article if you are not sure whether your Xbox controller has Bluetooth.
- Access to Wi-Fi or mobile data connection of 10 Mbps downstream. If you use Wi-Fi, we recommend a 5 Ghz connection.
What games can we play?
As of today, the service has a fairly extensive list of more than 50 games, among which we can find some such as Tekken 7, Madden NFL 20, Devil May Cry 5, Forza Horizon 4, Day Z, Sea of Thieves, Borderlands and many other titles that can currently be found on the Xbox Game Pass service.
With our phone and the Bluetooth controller connected, we will only have to connect to the service to play immediately without installations or loading times, beyond the loading times of the game itself. It is clear that this proposal is going to be a blow to the table of the streaming game world, something that Google will especially notice with its service Stadia, which doesn't seem to gel yet.