Microsoft plans to support streaming Xbox game libraries next month. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans say so The edge that the company is preparing to test the ability to stream games you own that are not part of the existing Xbox Game Pass library.
As part of a long-running project called Project Lapland within Microsoft, the software giant has prepared its Xbox Cloud Gaming servers to support streaming thousands of games. I'm told Microsoft will first test its new Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming features with Xbox Insiders in November before expanding it to more Xbox users and more games.
The Xbox Cloud Gaming expansion comes the same month that Microsoft plans to enable game purchases on its Xbox mobile app for Android in the US. Microsoft is able to do this thanks to a court ruling earlier this week that forces Google to stop charging Google Play for apps in the Play Store starting November 1st.
Xbox President Sarah Bond announced yesterday that “players will be able to play and purchase Xbox games directly from the Xbox app on Android starting in November.” Once Microsoft's work to bring a full library of games to Xbox Cloud Gaming is complete, you'll be able to purchase an Xbox game on Android and instantly stream it to your device.
Project xCloud was supposed to launch with game library streaming in 2020. Microsoft then announced it would support your games library on Xbox Cloud Gaming in 2022, but never launched that year. I understand that work was made more difficult by the need to prepare critical infrastructure for thousands of games, rather than the hundreds currently on Xbox Game Pass. While thousands of games will soon be available through Xbox Cloud Gaming, I'm told some publishers will be holding back certain games due to licensing requirements or offers.
Microsoft is also working on a browser-based Xbox Mobile Store, which was originally scheduled to launch in July. The store will initially include deals and in-game items, but will eventually expand to cover first-party games as well. Microsoft said in August that testing had begun for the web-based mobile store and that “work is progressing well and we will have more to share in the future.”
Update, October 11th: Article updated to mention the original Project xCloud plans.