Microsoft Brings Xbox App to TCL TVs as 15-Hour Cloud Gaming Caps Loom

Q: As Microsoft caps Xbox cloud gaming to 15 hours, how much will heavy gamers have to pay to keep playing?

Heavy gamers cannot yet know the exact extra cost, because Microsoft has not announced pricing for additional Xbox Cloud Gaming hour bundles. What is confirmed is the cap structure starting in November: Game Pass Ultimate includes 15 cloud hours a month, Premium 10 hours, and Essential 5 hours. After that, players must buy more cloud playtime through the Xbox Store. Microsoft has said the extra time will be sold in bundles, and unused purchased hours may roll over, but it has not disclosed bundle size or price. So the practical answer is that heavy gamers will pay their normal subscription fee plus whatever Microsoft charges for extra hours beyond the cap. Today, reported subscription prices are about $22.99 a month for Ultimate, $14.99 for Premium, and $9.99 for Essential. But the real added burden for frequent cloud players remains impossible to calculate until Microsoft publishes its rates. That means a heavy Ultimate user who streams, for example, 40 or 60 hours a month knows only that 25 to 45 of those hours will have to be bought separately. The same uncertainty applies to non-subscribers using the new pay-as-you-go cloud option, which will also require purchased playtime hours. Microsoft says only about 4% of Game Pass subscribers will be affected, and argues the limits reflect rising cloud infrastructure costs. For now, though, the headline is simple: the cap is known, the overage charges are not.

3 articles · Updated · The Verge · Sep 4

TCL smart TVs will get Microsoft’s Xbox app in the coming months, letting users stream Game Pass titles and some owned games through Xbox Cloud Gaming without a console.
November will also bring a pay-as-you-go cloud gaming option, allowing access without an Xbox Game Pass subscription as Microsoft widens entry points to the service.
Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be capped at 15 cloud hours a month, with 10 hours for Premium and 5 hours for Essential; extra playtime will require purchased hour bundles.
Microsoft has also tested free, ad-supported cloud gaming for Xbox Insiders, while TCL joins Samsung, LG, Amazon Fire TV and Hisense as TV partners for the Xbox app.