Xbox cloud streaming and remote play are now available on Windows PCs

Game streaming news has seemingly taken a backseat in the past few months, especially as new consoles and gaming devices popped up to cater to on-device gameplay. But while the likes of Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce NOW seem to have settled down to a regular cadence of announcing new games added to their libraries, Xbox continues to actually expand its technology and its reach. The latest big announcement is actually one that you would have expected to be there early on, as Xbox's streaming functionality finally supports Microsoft's own Windows platform.

The idea behind game streaming is to enable access to games without having to worry about the actual hardware it is streamed on. Different game streaming services, however, focused on different devices when they first launched. Google Stadia leaned heavily on its new Chromecast 4K dongle before expanding to Android phones and Chromebooks, while Xbox prioritized mobile experiences initially.

That put Microsoft's other operating system at an ironic disadvantage, but that situation ends today. Xbox just announced that the latest update for the Xbox app on Windows 10 is finally bringing the gaming platform's two remote play capabilities on PCs. With Windows 11's launch just around the corner, Xbox makes a small assurance that the same app will be compatible with the upcoming upgrade as well.

Xbox actually offers two ways to play remotely. The most advertised one is, of course, Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming that can stream Xbox games to mobile or PC, even if you don't own an Xbox console. Of course, you need to be an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber in one of the 22 countries where the service is available.

If, however, you do have an Xbox at home, you can also take advantage of Remote Play to access games, even if you're not really at home. This announcement marks the first time that Xbox Series X|S consoles are supported on Remote Play for PC, allowing gamers worldwide to dictate the terms of play, like which settings to use for streaming.