Microsoft is finalizing its Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows computers, which includes access to streaming games from the company’s xCloud service. We’ve been able to access the latest version of the Xbox Game Streaming app for Windows, an unannounced and unknown app. Once the app is released, Windows users can stream games from their Xbox Series S / X consoles and from xCloud.
Currently, you cannot stream games from the new Xbox consoles to Windows computers as they are not supported in the existing Xbox Console Companion app. This new app will fix this and also bring xCloud streaming to Windows PCs for the first time. We first looked at this xCloud app for Windows last year and it has improved a lot since then.
The Xbox Remote Play feature, to connect to Xbox consoles, works just like the existing Console Companion. You can wake up an Xbox console remotely, log in and play games wherever you are.
There is now full touch support, which enables Surface or other touchscreen devices to play Xbox games without a controller. Microsoft also seems to be preparing some form of gyro support here as well. There is an option to enable it, but it does not yet seem fully functional. This is an internal beta application, so it is still incomplete.
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It looks like Microsoft is also preparing 1080p streams for xCloud, instead of the 720p that exists today. This, of course, will improve the experience on Windows computers, ahead of higher resolutions after Microsoft upgraded its xCloud servers to include Xbox Series X hardware.
It is still not clear exactly when this app will be made more widely available. Microsoft is rumors planned a “new to play” event for next month, so it’s possible we’ll soon hear a lot more about the company’s xCloud plans (including for the internet and iOS).