Next-Gen Xbox Games To Be Playable On Xbox One With xCloud

Microsoft has announced that through its xCloud service, Xbox One owners will play next-gen Xbox games.

Microsoft made this known in a blog post recapping its Xbox plus Bethesda showcase, with the company confirming plans to leverage Xbox Cloud Gaming (xCloud) for Xbox One consoles.

Microsoft has been pushing to make Xbox a more accessible platform, and this initiative saw one of its biggest leaps forward with last month’s introduction of the company’s xCloud streaming service to Xbox Game Pass. This allows users to play current-gen console games on mobile devices that normally wouldn’t be able to support them, but it’s also possible that this could be taken even further to make next-gen Xbox games playable on current-gen hardware.

Editor in chief of Microsoft’s Xbox Wire, Will Tuttle stated that gamers who play Xbox one will have the opportunity to play next-gen games if the company succeeds with its plans.

“For the millions of people who play on Xbox One consoles today, we are looking forward to sharing more about how we will bring many of these next-gen games, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, to your console through Xbox Cloud Gaming, just like we do with mobile devices, tablets, and browsers.”

Until now, Microsoft had only described xCloud on consoles as a way for players to “try [games] before you download,” but it’s clear the company sees the service as offering much more. Microsoft originally announced Microsoft Flight Simulator as an Xbox One title, before quietly removing references to the Xbox One launch in December. Microsoft recently confirmed Flight Simulator will now launch on Xbox Series X / S consoles on July 27th.

It’s not clearly stated when xCloud game streaming will be available on Xbox One consoles, though. It’s unlikely to be ready in time for the July launch of Microsoft Flight Simulator, and Microsoft’s head of cloud gaming, Kareem Choudhry, previously said xCloud will be integrated into consoles “later this year.”

xCloud availability will provide a welcome boost for Xbox One consoles, particularly as Microsoft is upgrading its server blades to run Xbox Series X hardware later this month. It will give this older hardware a way to play upcoming titles like Starfield, which, like Flight Simulator, will also launch exclusively on the new Xbox Series X / S consoles.