Xbox Game Pass coming to Android phones Sept. 15 —what you need to know

Xbox Game Pass coming to Android phones Sept. 15 —what yous need to know

(Epitome credit: Microsoft)

Later this year, you'll be able to stream Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles to Android devices, finer making Microsoft's game subscription service into a compelling cloud gaming service in its own right. Now, Microsoft has revealed some salient details about the program: Information technology will support more than 100 streaming games, it will bear over your save progress between platforms, and it will be available in 22 countries (including the U.S. and the United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland) on September 15.

Information comes from an Xbox Wire blog post by Kareem Choudhry, corporate vice president of Projection xCloud at Microsoft. In the postal service, Choudhry explains that Project xCloud will support more than 100 games from the Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate subscription, and that players will be able to stream these games directly to their Android phones or tablets — no Xbox console required.

Xbox Series X release date, price, pre-orders, specs and games
PS5 and Xbox Series X SSDs: How this tech will define next-gen games
Plus: Xbox Series 10 pre-orders could be coming very soon — here's why

Peradventure more than chiefly, Choudhry announced that this service volition begin on September 15. It's a much more specific date than we had last month. To begin with, the Projection xCloud/Game Pass Ultimate functionality will be bachelor in only 22 countries, including Canada, Ireland, the Uk and the United States, with support for the rest of the world coming subsequently on. Choudhry also pointed out that, technically, the service will still be in beta at this time, so users shouldn't expect flawless functioning as soon as th service launches.

Some of the supported games include Minecraft Dungeons, Destiny 2, Tell Me Why, Gears 5 and Yakuza Kiwami two. Since in that location volition exist more than 100 games available at launch, it stands to reason that about Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles will receive back up — simply probably not all of them. (Microsoft would probably have said and so, since that would accept been a huge advantage for prospective subscribers.)

Microsoft also highlighted a number of mobile-friendly accessories that would make playing on Android devices easy, including mobile controllers like the Razer Kishi, and headsets like the SteelSeries Arctis 1 Wireless for Xbox.

There'south another piece of good news, yet: All of your saved games and other forms of progress volition be accessible from both the cloud and downloaded versions of each Xbox Game Pass Ultimate title. If yous desire to outset a session of Gears 5 on your Xbox 1, continue on your PC and play another level on your phone before bed, yous'll have that selection. In a way, this makes an Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate subscription more versatile than owning a game, at least in certain circumstances.

The launch of Xbox Game Pass on Android devices could give new phones similar the Pixel 4a and Milky way Notation 20 a big advantage over upcoming Apple tree handsets such as the iPhone 12. While Project xCloud is currently in beta for iOS and will come to Apple tree devices eventually, a large library of high-profile Xbox games could be exactly what Android phones need to take on Apple Arcade, which gives iOS and Mac users a library of 100-plus premium titles for $v a month.

To access Projection xCloud when information technology launches, you don't need to exercise anything radical; just subscribe to Xbox Game Laissez passer Ultimate on or before September fifteen. (Or afterward; this functionality is probably not going away anytime soon.) From there, you'll be able to download a mobile app (maybe the existing Xbox app) and effort out Microsoft's cloud gaming service for yourself. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs $fifteen per month, although you tin sign up at much cheaper introductory rates if you've never subscribed before.

Marshall Honorof is a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site'south coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing groundwork, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and engineering. Afterwards hours, yous can observe him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.