Microsoft has been working on a new feature that allows Android Smartphone users to play games on their smartphones by directly streaming them using their gaming console.
Console streaming works in collaboration with the user’s Xbox One device instead of using a cloud-based Xbox instance. On the side, Microsoft is also working on its Project xCloud game streaming preview.
The xCloud game streaming is currently available for four games only since it is going through the preview period. The Console streaming feature, on the other hand, comes with support for all the existing Xbox 360 and Xbox One games that you have installed.
Xbox’s Program manager, Jonathan Hildebrandt, explains:
If you’re an Xbox Insider in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings in the US and UK, you can now try a preview of Xbox Console Streaming. You’ll be able to play your owned and installed Xbox One games, including Xbox Game Pass titles, on an Android phone or tablet remotely from your home console.
The feature is limited to Android and uses the same app as xCloud to access your console over the internet. The company has not disclosed whether it plans to bring console streaming and xCloud to iOS devices or not.
To stream your console games on your Android smartphone, you have to meet a few requirements. These are:
- Open or moderate NAT type
- Upload bandwidth of at least 4.75 Mbps
- Network latency of 125 ms or less required
- The Xbox One console should be set to instant-on in the power options
game changer