It offers a notable number of new games and Day 1 launches, but the library also sheds games regularly. For instance, its cloud gaming stream is still limited to 1080p at 60fps, while Stadia can do 4K and GeForce Now 1440p at 120fps.Īnd there are few things more rage-inducing than settling in to play on your PC and discovering that the game won't launch until you update Windows because the Xbox app is too enmeshed with the Microsoft Store - a major buzzkill that has frequently impelled us to move on to other, non-Game Pass games. Dan Ackerman/CNET Where it falls shortĪs a jack-of-all-trades, XGPU doesn't master every aspect. It probably takes longer to get the licensing agreements signed than to ready a game for either service. The two complement each other more than they compete, and they require the least adaptation work for developers, ensuring fast growth in the numbers of supported games. GeForce Now is great if you already have a big library of PC games and want to play them on any device at high quality and frame rates, making it a good choice for more veteran gamers.

XGPU is great if you don't already have a big library of games or if you want to play them on any device, making it a good choice for almost anyone. The key here is 'intended purpose,' because XGPU is only one of our two cloud-gaming Editors' Choice Awards: The other is Nvidia GeForce Now. And it operates a huge network of state-of-the-art data centers optimized for serving cloud applications: Xbox Cloud Gaming is as much about Azure as it is about fun. It has well-established game development studios and gobbles up more independent studios every year, plus it has relationships with every important game developer. The company has a long history in gaming - Microsoft Flight Simulator launched nearly 40 years ago and the Xbox more than 20 years ago - and it owns the DirectX graphics programming interface used by both Windows and its Xbox consoles. Dan Ackerman/CNET The Game Pass Ultimate difference: Breadth and depthįor its intended purpose, Microsoft has unmatched advantages over competitors for several reasons.

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