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Xbox tests free ad-supported cloud gaming with Insiders

gamingJul 23, 202637230

Microsoft began testing a free, ad-supported Xbox Cloud Gaming tier with Xbox Insiders, letting participants stream games they already own for one-hour sessions while showing ads before sessions start. Xbox says the ad-supported option is optional for players who keep paid cloud subscriptions and will run only for a limited test period; Microsoft previously ran internal tests late last year that included about two minutes of preroll ads, The Verge reported. The company framed the test as a way to expand affordable access to Xbox games and noted cloud streaming can let Xbox One owners play titles built for Xbox Series X and S without new hardware. The rollout follows a broader Game Pass reshuffle in which Microsoft raised prices while adding unlimited cloud gaming to its Game Pass Essential tier at $9.99 per month. Microsoft is testing the feature amid wider Xbox changes, including layoffs, studio closures, a renewed focus on the Fallout franchise, and planned Xbox console price increases starting August 1.

Wario64
@wario64.bsky.social

XBOX Insiders - "Today, we’re starting to test an ad-supported way to stream select games from your library for a limited time, available to XBOX Insiders." Players will have one hour session limits across supported devices and regions. news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/0...

834h ago
Quoting this
lex luddy61

This is the exact kind of "the numbers tell us this where things are going but no one will like or use because your rushing enshitification" move I'd greenlight if I was the CEO who hired the most annoying business analyst in the industry to dictate my multi-billion dollar business strategy.

Dead Game Connoisseur16

Making it so you have to deal with ads to stream games you already own after your competitor said they're gonna kill off physical games in favor of digital purchases while we're in the midst of a ridiculous data storage price hike feels so maliciously intentional for where all this is going

ⓓⓔⓔⓑ definitive edition nintendo switch 2 edition13

Stream games YOU OWN “for free with ads” lol what

anna, journalist, get woke or DEI trying11

i told you people to never trust microsoft back when the first xbox came out

UFO Citybusters10

if i'm going to be fed ads in games at least let it be through billboards while i'm crosschecking skiiers off of grind rails to OK Go

GigaBob8

This sure reads like something that isn't supposed to be customer facing. But companies don't even care about that now they just go ahead and make their press release aimed at investors.

Great Explosion Murder God Dynamight7

This is to stream games on the cloud for free for those too stupid to understand, which is normally only available through their subscription plans. They’re not making you watch ads to play games you own on your console. Only if you want to play on the cloud without a subscription.

Dead Game Connoisseur6

It's insane how frequently the gaming industry shows it's all just a dogfight to the bottom the winner is whoever has the most foot left after running out of bullets

Brian Pickett3

I can confirm to all of these companies that an ad has never added value

Valerian blah blah3

Angry. Even if Microsoft was owned and ran by the lady with the biggest and best ass (And therefor the most ethical person on the planet), how would this... work well? Like either ads delay/interrupt your gaming or they get plastered over the screen and obscure game elements. who wants this.

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