Microsoft xCloud public beta officially launching on iPhone and iPad tomorrow with 100+ titles

After having to scrap its plan to offer an iOS app due to Apple’s App Store policies, Xbox is officially moving ahead with the web-based xCloud public beta for iOS. The release comes after an early preview last year that gave a first look at xCloud running on iPhone, iPad, and more.

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The first Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to start playing titles on iPhone, iPad, and PC tomorrow, April 20, via the web. Xbox announced the news in a blog post today (via The Verge). For now, xCloud for iOS and PC is an invite-only beta but it is a notable step forward after the early preview that Microsoft offered.

Starting tomorrow, if you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, you can check to see if you’ve been invited to public xCloud beta and access it for iOS and PC on Xbox’s landing page here.

Starting tomorrow, we’ll begin sending out invites to select Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to start testing the Xbox Cloud Gaming limited beta for Windows 10 PCs and Apple phones and tablets via web browsers.

While the early preview for iOS started with just Halo: The Master Chief Collection, the official public beta will feature access over 100 Xbox Game Pass titles.

• Comment: A few hours with Project xCloud for iOS preview shows a lot of promise

The xCloud beta works with Safari, Chrome, and Edge. In testing back in February, my colleague Bradley Chambers found it truly felt like a beta with considerable lag, but found it impressive and convenient to play console games on iOS. All in all, it looks like xCloud for iOS has a lot of potential.

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Microsoft says it will continue inviting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to the beta and open up xCloud on iOS and PC to all subscribers “in the coming months.”

While a compatible USB or Bluetooth controller is needed to play all available xCloud games, 50 titles will work with custom touch controls.

The limited beta is our time to test and learn; we’ll send out more invites on a continuous basis to players in all 22 supported countries, evaluate feedback, continue to improve the experience, and add support for more devices. Our plan is to iterate quickly and open up to all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members in the coming months so more people have the opportunity to play Xbox in all-new ways.

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