quote:
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.

During this test period, XBOX Insiders with an XBOX account will be able to stream games they own for free with ads. Players will have one hour session limits across supported devices and regions.

Here’s what you can expect:

1. Ads will play before sessions begin.
2. The core game experience is unchanged.
3. This is optional. Players can choose other ways to play at any time.

For many players, the device they already own now allows them to stream games with XBOX. Cloud can also help XBOX One owners play newer games built for XBOX Series X|S without needing to purchase new hardware right away. That can be especially meaningful in places where consoles are harder to find or less affordable, giving more players another way to access great games on devices they already have.

Advertising has existed in gaming for decades, from in-game placements to free-to-play models. But it hasn’t always been built with the player in mind. When done well, advertising can help lower the cost of access. It creates another way for players to get into games without an upfront streaming purchase and expands audiences through new ways to play.

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Posted by geauxtigers87

Louisiana

Member since Mar 2011

27676 posts

Posted on 7/23/26 at 11:47 am to Sl0thstronautEsq

they arent going to lower shite with this, just make more money

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Posted by imjustafatkid

Alabama

Member since Dec 2011

67304 posts

Posted on 7/23/26 at 11:56 am to Sl0thstronautEsq

Based on the way this is written, it sounds like they're adding a free tier of streaming for users who don't pay for Game Pass.

If that's accurate, I have no problem with this as a new service being offered. Not sure why anyone would. They could simply continue to not offer streaming to people who don't pay for Game Pass.

This post was edited on 7/23/26 at 12:25 pm

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Posted by Sl0thstronautEsq

Member since Aug 2018

18742 posts

Posted on 7/23/26 at 12:04 pm to imjustafatkid

They obviously tried to choose their words carefully in the release and that makes it harder to understand.

It sounds like if you don't own an X/S, you can buy (digital?) X/S games and stream them for free if you watch a set of ads beforehand?

It says, "[p]layers will have one hour session limits across supported devices and regions" but I assume that's just during the test.

So I think that if they actually roll this out, the question is how long will the session limits be before you need to watch more ads? Also, how long are the ads and how many do you have to watch?

This post was edited on 7/23/26 at 12:09 pm

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Posted by imjustafatkid

Alabama

Member since Dec 2011

67304 posts

Posted on 7/23/26 at 12:10 pm to Sl0thstronautEsq

quote:
They obviously tried to choose their words carefully in the release and that makes it harder to understand.

It sounds like if you don't own an X/S, you can buy (digital?) X/S games and stream them for free if you watch a set of ads beforehand?

It says, "[p]layers will have one hour session limits across supported devices and regions" but I assume that's just during the test.

So I think the question is if they actually roll this out, how long will the session limits be before you need to watch more ads? Also, how long are the ads and how many do you have to watch?

Those are good questions. Streaming is already included with Game Pass, so I doubt I'll be going in to test this out.

Also, jury is still out on the viability of video game streaming. I'm not convinced adding more people to the streaming servers right now is the best idea. To me, that's the bigger deal here. Maybe, since this is just a test currently, they're just looking at this for when it becomes more viable. I hope so.

Streaming works fine for me with games that are turn based like Gears of War Tactics, Slay the Spire, the Shadowrun games they recently added, things like that. For games that run real-time and need me to be making inputs, it still isn't there. One bad piece of lag and I come back to a death screen. It HAS been improving, but I still would recommend playing games installed to your drive over streaming.

This post was edited on 7/23/26 at 12:23 pm

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