The Xbox Game Streaming app is now available on Windows – via a sneaky download

Surprise: Xbox Game Streaming, the Stadia-like service that delivers more than 200 games at a low rate of $ 15 per month, now works on Windows 10 computers. The catch is tentative as it is not yet officially available.

A solution that quietly leaked at the end of 2020 is finally making the rounds thanks to recent Reddit and YouTube shares. In this time frame, Microsoft does not yet need this method to get the game streaming service, currently an Android exclusive, running on your computer. It requires access to and download of an app that is otherwise buried in an official Microsoft database, and then uses a one-time unlock phrase to make it work.

But the steps, as I’ve tested, are simple and safe enough to recommend to anyone eager to test Xbox’s streaming option on their favorite Win10 laptop or computer – and finally see how Xbox Game Streaming (formerly known as Project xCloud). on wired Ethernet connections.

Xtreme tactics

After being seen at public auditions at expos in 2019, Xbox Game Streaming became a formal part of the $ 15-a-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription service in September 2020. It is arguably the most content-rich game streaming option in the world. . – offers more at that price than the mix of subscription and a la carte options on Google Stadiums – and it currently offers a whopping 225 streaming games as part of the fee. (The end of 2020 option includes the extensive EA Play library.)

However, unless you have a smart TV device with Android drive and are smart, your options for larger screens and Ethernet connections are limited, thanks to the initial launch of the app exclusively on Android smartphones and tablets. (Even Xbox’s biggest console competitor has an edge here, thanks to PlayStation Now’s gameplay compatibility with Windows PCs.) According to internal Microsoft meetings, the Xbox division has confirmed its commitment to land on more devices in 2021 with using a web-based protocol that will bypass the current iOS restrictions on game streaming applications.

Today’s leakage option apparently relies on a custom executable backend, as opposed to a solution used on web browsers. The method, as originally shared by Reddit user pejamas1986 in November 2020, was described as an app meant to load in the Xbox Series X / S ‘developer mode’, but a more recent part of YouTube channel Cloud Gaming Xtreme has confirmed the app in question. was also built for Windows 10 compatibility.

The app in question can be exposed by visiting RG-Adguard, a website that analyzes Microsoft Store links and finds their official downloads, the URLs of which can be checked before you download them yourself. In the case of Xbox Game Streaming, a public URL for the Spanish version of the app can be parsed to expose a bunch of files. Grab the MS Store URL, plug it into the RG Adguard interface, and you’ll get a bunch of links. The one you want to end with the extension “.appxbundle.” Download it and manually add the extension to the download when it’s done, and presto: you have a 220 MB file that can start, verify your currently paid XGPU subscription, and you can start playing any of its 200+ games. to stream – once you get a ‘listing ID’ code, which in this case is simply the phrase ‘XGPUBeta’, no quotes.

An issue of frames and mice

You have been warned: The app in question is clearly marked as a ‘Test app’, so your mileage is likely to vary as it is not a publicly supported app. Ars will not be held responsible for anything silly that happens if you use it. That said, I have tested the app on several Win10 machines (which are not in the beta pools of the operating system) and can report that it looks good enough. Wired gaming on a computer Win10 machine resulted in a superior button-typing latency response as the same on a laptop via 5 GHz WiFi; I could play fighting games like Killer Instinct via a wired cloud streaming setup and tolerated the extra delay frameworks, but I was not so comfortable playing the same stuff via my wireless laptop.

It’s nice to get a bigger screen option for both use cases, or I want to tolerate a bit of a delay while playing a new Square Enix shooter Outdoors or go fully wireless with slower, portable friendly rates like Kill the Spire. And if you’d like to peek behind the Xbox development diaper, you can do so with this app with “developer” options baked directly into each menu. It shows juicy, moment-to-moment statistics, such as bandwidth measurements and jitter, and it confirms a 1080p working resolution for many games, which is a boost compared to the Android app. (As of press time, however, these games are all rendered on a server farm tuned to Xbox One S specifications, not the next generations, so do not expect the power and graphics to flourish in the 2020 console generation.)

The biggest catch so far is that you need a gamepad to play the most available games, unless the game in question has formal keyboard and mouse support for its Xbox versions – and even then I have the app to see if these controls can be exposed by this testing program. However, at the same time you need to keep your mouse handy (or use the touch screen of a laptop) to access the app’s top menu structure to stop and switch between games. This is the lifespan of using unofficial testing programs. And while it’s a ‘test’ app, it’s still being checked to see if it’s legitimate customer credentials, so your Windows 10 machine will need to include Xbox references with a continuous Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership, otherwise it’s not working.

And it remains to be seen whether a version of the Xbox Game Streaming from the web browser will be better than this Win10 executable program, although of course the version will provide access to even more devices, including devices that may be easier to access couple. television.

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