Xbox Cloud Playtime lets non-subscribers buy streaming hours

Microsoft has started selling Xbox cloud streaming by the hour. Under a program called Cloud Playtime, players who do not subscribe to Game Pass can buy packs of streaming time and use them to play games they already own on supported devices. The test began on October 21 for Xbox Insiders, the group that tries features before everyone else, and a wider rollout is planned for November.

What the packs cost

Microsoft calls the current prices introductory, so they may change later. Eurogamer and GamingBolt both list the same three packs:

• 10 hours for $3.99
• 25 hours for $7.99
• 50 hours for $11.99

Ars Technica rounds these to $4, $8 and $12 and works out the hourly rate. That is about 40 cents per hour for the smallest pack, about 32 cents for the middle one and about 24 cents for the largest. The bigger the pack, the cheaper each hour gets, so anyone who expects to stream a lot is pushed toward the 50-hour option.

What you still need

The packs pay for streaming time only. They do not include games. You must already own the game you want to play, with Ars Technica noting that a few free-to-play titles are the exception. That is the main difference from Game Pass, where a library of games and some streaming time come in one subscription.

Eurogamer and Ars Technica both report that paid packs are ad-free and come with shorter wait times than the free option. Waits do not disappear, though. Eurogamer notes that even paying players can queue during peak hours.

The free tier with ads

Xbox is also testing a free, ad-supported way to stream games you own, which was announced earlier this year. Players watch an ad before a session starts, and Xbox has said it does not plan to interrupt play with ads in the middle of a session, according to GamingBolt. Ars Technica points out that this tier trades away some of the quality and wait-time benefits of the paid packs. For someone who only wants to try a game on a phone for a short while, it may be enough.

What changes for Game Pass members

The packs arrive alongside a bigger shift. Microsoft announced in September that Game Pass subscribers will get a monthly cap on cloud streaming hours, ranging from 5 to 15 hours depending on the tier. Game Pass Ultimate sits at the top with 15 hours, according to GamingBolt, Kotaku and Eurogamer. Exact timing and the allowance for each lower tier are worth checking on Xbox's own pages, because the reports we read do not fully agree on how they describe the rollout.

The reasoning is cost. Streaming needs servers, computing power and bandwidth, and Eurogamer reports that the 15-hour figure was tied to the point where running the service stops making money. Microsoft has said only a minority of subscribers would hit the limits.

Who this affects and what to watch

If you play on a console, the change is small. If you rely on streaming, for example on an older Xbox One, a phone or a low-power PC, it matters more. Light users may find that a pack of 10 or 25 hours lasts a long time, while heavy streamers could end up paying more than they did before the caps.

Some things are still open. The introductory prices could rise, the November rollout may differ by country, and the list of streamable games is still limited. If you want a broader introduction to how streaming works and what connection it needs, see our guide to cloud gaming explained. Before buying a pack, check the current price and the game list in the Xbox Store, since both can change after the test phase.