During Meta Connect, Mark Zuckerberg finally confirmed when Xbox Cloud Gaming will arrive at the Meta Quest. Although the arrival of Microsoft’s cloud gaming service to virtual reality headsets was announced almost a year ago, there was never any real news about it. Until today.
The CEO of the Menlo Park firm himself reported that Xbox Cloud Gaming will be available in the Meta Quest starting in december. Unfortunately, the specific date has not yet been mentioned. But at least we know that the platform will be available in the last weeks of this year.
“You’ll be able to play hundreds of Xbox games, including titles like Halo, Minecraft and The Elder Scrolls. And you can do it on a giant screen anywhere you go,” Zuckerberg said during the event.
Beyond announcing that Xbox Cloud Gaming will be available in the Meta Quest 2, Quest Pro or the new Quest 3 before the end of 2023, details remain scarce. In the small print from the official announcement Some extra data is offered that is worth commenting on.
It’s obvious, but it’s still worth mentioning: users will need an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription to access Xbox Cloud Gaming. It is also important to note that cloud titles cannot be played with the Meta Quest controls, but an Xbox controller will be required. Something that should not be a surprise at this point.
However, what does raise some questions is the availability of the service. Meta indicates that it will be accessible in “selected regions”. This suggests that the launch of Xbox Cloud Gaming in the Meta Quest will not be global, at least from day one.
Although perhaps most worrying is the following notice: “Streaming limitations apply.” Meta has not provided further details in this regard, but it could mean that the gameplay is locked to a certain resolution or number of frames per seconddepending on the characteristics of the headset that is being used.
During the announcement on stage there was also no time for demonstrations. Only a short clip could be seen of Halo running on a Meta Quest 3 while Mark Zuckerberg talked about the features of his new mixed reality headset. For its part, Microsoft has not made new references to the matter.
Let’s remember that Xbox Cloud Gaming is not the only Redmond service that will be integrated into the Meta Quest. Also in 2022, immersive experiences had been announced by Office, Windows 365 and Microsoft Teams.