Microsoft to Implement Monthly Time Limits on Xbox Cloud Gaming
2 sources across 2 countries · Brazil · United States
Who reported this
- Tecnoblog
- Ars Technica
What the colours mean
- Left
- Centre-left
- Centre
- Centre-right
- Right
- A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.
Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.
Political lean is comparable inside one country and not across them, which is why the bar groups by country first. Publicly funded broadcasters are not marked as state-linked.
The owner of each outlet is listed as a matter of record, not as a judgement about the outlet.
Every outlet covering this story shares the same political lean; read with that in mind.
Microsoft announced on Thursday that it will limit the amount of cloud gaming time included in Xbox Game Pass subscriptions starting in November. The Game Pass Ultimate plan will be limited to 15 hours of cloud gaming per month, while the Premium and Essential plans will receive limits of 10 hours and 5 hours, respectively. Users who exceed these monthly allotments will have the option to purchase additional hours through the Xbox Store, although specific pricing for these additions has not yet been disclosed.
In addition to the subscription changes, Microsoft is introducing a pay as you go model. This will allow users who do not subscribe to Game Pass to purchase timed access to stream eligible games they already own on supported devices. Microsoft stated that the adoption of these limits is necessary because the cost of operating Cloud Gaming has increased. The company estimates that the change will affect approximately 4 percent of its subscribers, which equates to roughly 1.2 million users based on an estimated base of 30 million.
Access to downloadable versions of games remains unaffected by these changes. For context, competitors handle streaming differently. Sony offers streamable versions of select games without time limits to its top tier PlayStation Plus Premium subscribers. Nvidia's GeForce Now limits the length of individual play sessions rather than total monthly time, ranging from one hour on its free tier to eight hours on its Ultimate tier.
How each side framed it
- Centre
- Both center leaning outlets focused on the factual breakdown of the new tiers and the projected impact on the user base, though one described the limits as strict and harsh.
Sources
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