Microsoft has revealed how much its Xbox cloud gaming service is going to cost, with 50 hours of stream-time selling for an introductory price of $11.99.
This information comes from a post on the official Xbox news website, which explains that starting today, Xbox Insiders will be able to stream games using the paid service without needing an active Game Pass subscription. This comes ahead of a planned rollout to all Xbox players in November. These paid packs provide an ad-free version of the free cloud gaming service revealed earlier this year.
The full suite of introductory prices are as follows:
- 10 hours of playtime for $3.99
- 25 hours of playtime for $7.99
- 50 hours of playtime for $11.99
It’s worth noting that even people paying for the Xbox cloud streaming service will encounter wait times during peak hours, though the blog post stated these waits will be shorter.
Microsoft previously revealed that monthly time limits will be placed on its paid Xbox cloud gaming service, though it insisted only a fraction of players would run into this cut-off point. A report claimed a 15-hour cap placed on the Game Pass Ultimate cloud gaming service was present as that’s the moment Xbox starts losing money. Offering a cloud gaming service requires server infrastructure, compute costs, and network and bandwidth costs.
As an aside, Sony’s defunct cloud gaming service PlayStation Now used to charge $9.99 for a month of streamed game time, more than a decade ago.
Xbox is currently in the midst of a massive restructuring process, in which more than 3,000 employees are to be laid off from the company. In a recent report, additional waves of layoffs are said to be planned for later this month, November, and January.
