I'm always telling people how the PC gaming landscape is going to change more radically than we can imagine, mostly in the direction of streaming. And I'm almost always greeted with a shake of the head, a sigh, or a "What are you doing in my house?" Well, look at me now, naysayers, because the Xbox app is going even more GeForce Now, er, now.
A blog post by Xbox's Senior Product Manager Anu Reddy explains: "Starting today, Xbox Insiders in the PC Gaming Preview who are also Game Pass Ultimate members can stream select console games they own beyond the Game Pass catalog on the Xbox PC app in the 28 countries where Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) is supported."
Those 28 countries, for reference, do include the US, UK, and other usual suspects.
This streaming service already existed for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, and in fact you could already stream Game Pass games on the Xbox PC app.
What's new is that now—should you be one of those "Xbox Insiders in the PC Gaming Preview who are also Game Pass Ultimate members"—you can stream non-Game Pass console games that you own.
In other words, this is an extension of Xbox's 'Stream your own game' service, which will, of course, be of benefit to those who own an Xbox console. But it'll also be of benefit to those who don't, because you can buy the games without owning a console and still stream them.
Crucially, this includes console-only games: "Just head to the Cloud Gaming section in the Xbox PC app, look for the Stream your own game catalog, choose a supported title you own, and start playing instantly."
That's somewhat of a blow to the "exclusivity" argument from console die-hards, is it not? (Just wait until they hear about the upcoming Xbox handheld that's basically a PC.)
I suppose we're above all that tribal nonsense these days, though. Less platform exclusivity is hardly a bad thing for us gamers, so I'll take it. Let's just hope this isn't how I sleepwalk into the stream-only future of gaming.
