Xbox is introducing monthly time limits on its cloud gaming service for Game Pass subscribers, a move it attributes to the rising cost of running the infrastructure. From November, Ultimate tier subscribers will be capped at 15 hours of streaming a month before needing to buy extra time, with lower tiers facing even tighter limits. The change has drawn criticism from users and commentators, some of whom argue it clashes with Microsoft's continued free, unlimited access to its Copilot AI tool, given both services rely on the same data centre infrastructure.

Premium subscribers will get 10 hours of cloud gaming a month and Essential tier users just five, with additional hours purchasable separately once launched, though pricing has not been disclosed. Xbox says only 4% of Game Pass's roughly 30 million subscribers use cloud gaming, meaning about 1.2 million people are affected. The changes come amid wider troubles at Xbox, including a 7% annual revenue decline to $21.8bn, 3,200 job cuts, and comments from chief executive Asha Sharma describing an industry-wide "crisis" in computing costs driven by soaring RAM prices, dubbed the "Rampocalypse".