How to play Balatro and more anywhere with Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft announced in November to expand its Xbox Cloud Gaming (beta) capabilities and allow Game Pass Ultimate subscribers stream some games they own on multiple devices. This means that subscribers can stream 50 games, like Baldur’s Gate 3, Cyberpunk 2077 and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2as long as they own a digital copy of the game and have a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate.

Read more: Your phone is all you need to play games now. Sorry, Console

XGPU subscription costs $20 per monthand gives you access to a catalog of over 500 games, as well as access to Xbox Cloud Gaming. This allows you to play most of the games in the game catalog from a device without an Xbox console. Microsoft recently doubled down on this feature with its own This is Xbox advertising campaign, which showed people playing Xbox games on their phones, laptops and other devices through cloud gaming independent of the console.

“We believe gaming should be easily accessible and accessible to all gamers, no matter what device you choose to play with,” Microsoft said online on Wednesday.

Here’s how to stream any of the 50 supported Xbox games to a device without an Xbox console. Note that cloud gaming depends on a good internet connection, so you probably won’t be able to stream games from a busy library or coffee shop or while on public transport.

Stream the game to your phone, tablet, computer and other devices

1. Open a compatible browser — updated versions of Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge and Safari are all compatible.
2. Go to kbok.com/play.
3. Tap or click on Sign up button — at the top of the browser window — and sign in to your Game Pass Ultimate account.
4. Look for it Stream your game carousel.
5. Click or tap Show all.
6. Select the game you want to play.

If you own the game, you can click or tap Play and the game will load. You should pair the Bluetooth controller with your device – even if you’re on a computer – before pressing Play. All games are optimized to work with controller inputs and will not work otherwise.

If you don’t own the game, Play the button has been replaced with a link to buy the game.

Once the game loads, it may take a few seconds to sync your save data, but then you can play the game without a console.

Stream games to your TV and VR headset

To stream games to a VR headset or TV, you’ll need the Xbox app or the Xbox Cloud Gaming app on your device. The Xbox app works on compatible Samsung TVs and Amazon Fire devices, and the Xbox Cloud Gaming app works on the Meta Quest 2, 3, and Pro, so this won’t work on all TVs or VR headsets.

If you have a compatible device and the right app, sign in to your Game Pass Ultimate account, click Show all in Stream your game carousel, choose the right game and guess Play. Again, you should probably connect the Bluetooth controller before you hit play, otherwise you will probably have a bad time.

Stream games to your Xbox console

On December 11, Mr. Microsoft announced that Xbox Insiders with Game Pass Ultimate can stream some of the games they own to their Xbox consoles. This means you can save time and hard drive space by running games from the cloud.

Games that can be played through the cloud will have a cloud badge. Select these games and then select an option Play with Cloud Gaming.

What you need to know about cloud gaming

Cloud gaming is similar to watching a video on Netflix, in that you’re streaming the experience to your device, except in some cases you own the game. Since the game is not stored on your device, you don’t have to worry about memory space or system requirements.

Since cloud gaming depends on your internet connection, you may experience lag or lag issues while playing. When I played Cyberpunk 2077 on my iPhone, there were times when there was a lot of action on the screen and my framerate dropped. I was the only person home at the time, so I imagine if someone else was home playing another game or watching a video online, my frame rate would drop.

For more Xbox news, here’s what you need to know Game Pass Ultimate and the the latest games on Game Pass. You can also check how your mobile device will probably be the only game console you’ll need soon.