Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members just got a new perk: the ability to stream some games directly to their consoles, no download necessary.
This news came in an Xbox Wire news post today, in which Xbox announced that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Member are now able to stream games from the Game Pass catalog, as well as “select games they own” on their Xbox Series X and S and Xbox One consoles via cloud streaming.
In the past, this was already possible to do on smart TVs, PCs, smart phones, and Meta Quest headsets, but this is the first time the feature has been available on consoles. Effectively, it lets users avoid spending time download games and using up precious hard drive storage space for games.
Xbox’s instructions for accessing this feature are as follows:
To start streaming from an Xbox console, go to My games & apps > Full library > Owned Games.
-
Cloud playable games will display a cloud badge on the game page.
-
Use filters to find games more quickly. Choose Filter > Ready to play > Cloud gaming.
-
To start playing, select the game and then choose Play with Cloud Gaming.
-
Start streaming directly from the Store app after buying select cloud playable games.
Conversely, users can play any game that’s installed on their Xbox consoles via streaming on devices with supported web browsers, via this link. Per Xbox’s post, this feature no longer works on the Xbox mobile app, but is still available on phones via the browser link. Xbox is also in the process of bringing this feature to Samsung and Amazon Fire smart TVs, and Meta Quest headsets.
Finally, Xbox announced that beginning this month, Xbox and Xbox 360 backward compatible games will support remote play as well.
All of this, Xbox says, is part of an effort to free up storage space on Xbox consoles. The Xbox Wire post touts a new feature in the console’s settings that will offer recommendations for cleaning up hard drive real estate. It can be found in the My Games & Apps > Manage menu.
Xbox has admittedly been making efforts to to expand storage space in recent years in the wake of bigger and bigger install sizes across games like Call of Duty and Baldur’s Gate 3. We broke down some of the best storage options for the Xbox Series X and S if you still need more even with these changes, especially if you’re not interested in shelling out for one of the fancier new Xbox models that comes with more built-in storage than the originals.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
