Phil Spencer Says xCloud on Console Is on the ‘Long List’ of Things to Do

Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said that he and Microsoft want to bring xCloud to Xbox consoles and PC, but that it is “just a bit further down” a long list of “cool things the xCloud team is working on”.Talking to a fan on Twitter, who quote-tweeted a post from Insider’s Ben Gilbert questioning why Xbox Game Pass doesn’t stream to consoles and PCs, Spencer clarified that the xCloud team does intend to bring the streaming service to console and PC.

Yes, we want to do this. It’s in the long list of cool things the xCloud team is working on, just a bit further down the list. But we want console and PC players to be able to browse as easily as mobile players, it’s a good gamepass feature.

— Phil Spencer (@XboxP3) October 7, 2020

“Yes, we want to do this,” said Spencer. “It’s in the long list of cool things the xCloud team is working on, just a bit further down the list. But we want console and PC players to be able to browse as easily as mobile players, it’s a good game pass feature.”

Currently, xCloud is only available on Android phones and tablets, although internal testing began for Windows 10 PCs earlier this year. It is unavailable on iOS devices due to Apple guidelines that restricts Microsoft from streaming the Game Pass library. But, despite being an Xbox product, xCloud is unavailable on actual Xbox consoles, and so games must be fully downloaded to play.

If or when xCloud does make it to Xbox, it would allow players to sample games before they commit to the download, or play entire games through the cloud.

For more in xCloud, check out our hands-on preview of xCloud.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer.