Microsoft has started testing its game streaming service, xCloud, on the Internet via a browser for iOS and iPadOS, and on a computer via Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge, The edge reports.
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Microsoft’s xCloud service enables subscribers to play games by streaming them from the cloud, instead of having to download the entire game locally on the device. Apple and Microsoft had a brief dispute in August last year as the App Store policy could not make services like xCloud available on the platform. Apple has updated its policy to allow xCloud on the platform, but this would require Microsoft to submit each game available for the service separately to the App Store, and to check it against the platform’s guidelines.
Microsoft described the rules as a ‘bad experience for customers’, saying that it would push xCloud to iOS and iPadOS users via the browser on Safari. Screenshots provided to The edge only show an xCloud experience via the browser on the desktop, but the experience on iOS and iPadOS will probably be the same. Users can select a game and play directly in their browser, although the exact resolution at which the game will be streamed is not yet known. Services like these will usually automatically adjust the resolution to suit your specific network capability.
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At launch, xCloud only supports browsers built on Chromium like Edge and Chrome on PC, but The edgeA senior editor, Tom Warren, says he expects support for Safari to be added after internal testing. With testing underway, there is no set time frame for when a public launch will take place The edge guess that a release gets ‘very close’.