Microsoft is significantly altering its cloud gaming service for Xbox, starting in November. Users of Game Pass Ultimate will now be limited to 15 hours of streaming per month, while Premium subscribers will get 10 hours, and Essential members only 5 hours. Additional playtime can be purchased through the Xbox Store.
This change is aimed at addressing rising server infrastructure costs, and Microsoft claims it will affect only about 4% of subscribers who use cloud gaming heavily. Moreover, cloud gaming will be decoupled from Game Pass, allowing any user with a digital Xbox title to buy streaming time without a subscription.
This move contrasts sharply with competitors like NVIDIA’s GeForce Now, which offers a much higher monthly cap.
