Microsoft has officially announced and started the testing phase, reserved for XBOX Insiders, of the rumored free Cloud Streaming option, supported by ads. After the first information that emerged last year and the subsequent internal verification phase, the service is taking a fundamental step towards the public launch scheduled for the end of the year.

Thanks to this novelty, being part of the test program we will be able to access completely free streaming game sessions to play the titles we already own in our catalog. The mechanism provides for the viewing of some commercials exclusively before the start of a game, with sessions lasting up to one hour. During internal testing conducted at the end of last year, the initial wait time with promotional announcements was about two minutes before the game started.

A significant benefit of this is that we can continue to use our XBOX One to play the latest generation productions made for XBOX Series X|S, without the need to buy new hardware right away. Regarding the insertion of ads, Microsoft has reiterated a series of clear guidelines: our gaming experience will always remain at the center of everything, ensuring that advertising never interrupts the flow of gameplay, that it maintains the same high quality standards of content and that it is always transparent and adapted to expectations on the platform.