The Xbox Game Pass will be available in the spring on iPhone and iPad (thanks to a web app)
Microsoft has formalized a new milestone in the development of Xbox Game Pass. Thanks to streaming technology, the catalog accessible by subscription will be available on iOS next spring.
Launched on Xbox One, Xbox Game Pass is now available on PC, Android (thanks to streaming), Xbox Series S and Xbox Series X. Microsoft does not intend to end the deployment, as it announced in a press release. published on December 9 on its Wire portal. The evolving subscription-based game catalog will be available next spring on iOS devices. PC gamers will also be able to enjoy it through cloud gaming (now they have to download the games).
This means that owners of an iPhone or iPad will be able to play the same productions as Android users, as long as they subscribe to the service (Ultimate plan, the most expensive). They will then only have to connect a Bluetooth controller to benefit from the Xbox ecosystem in the best conditions.
Microsoft will use a web app to launch Game Pass on iOS
As a rumor from last October suggested, Microsoft will use a web app to launch Game Pass on iOS. This is an essential choice to circumvent the strict rules put in place by Apple to dissuade players in the cloud gaming market from offering their service on the App Store. For example, they are forced to treat each game as an application in its own right, a complicated hurdle to overcome for Microsoft – whose Game Pass brings together more than a hundred different titles.
The web app, a solution also adopted by Amazon for Luna and Google for Stadia, solves the problem (Apple does not control the internet). On the other hand, it will not offer the ergonomics of a real Xbox Game Pass application – like the one available on Android. We must therefore hope for a relaxation on the side of the Cupertino company, which sees cloud gaming services as competitors for its Apple Arcade subscription (which is based on downloading).
The arrival of Game Pass on iOS and PC in cloud gaming will allow Microsoft to address a new audience and to expand its target even further. We recall that his dream is to reach two billion people. The next step will undoubtedly be the marketing of an HDMI key to be plugged directly into your TV or an application to download from the TV ecosystems (Android TV, Google TV, tvOS, etc.).
