Xbox wants you to pay 24 to 40 cents per hour to stream games you already bought

Microsoft has begun testing Cloud Playtime purchases with Xbox Insiders, letting people pay by the hour to stream eligible games they already own. The model adds a recurring cost to games’ purchase prices and raises questions about whether players will pay separately for cloud access, especially after Microsoft restricted streaming hours for Game Pass subscribers.

Launch prices range from $1 for one hour to $10 for 50 hours, or about 20 to 40 cents per hour; purchased hours do not expire, but can only be used with a cloud-playable game the customer owns or, for some titles, a free-to-play game. Insiders can also try free, ad-supported streaming, though Microsoft says paid users will get shorter waits and higher-quality streams. Microsoft said last month that only 4 per cent of Game Pass subscribers would be affected by its new monthly streaming limits of five to 15 hours.