Microsoft is bringing their Project xCloud game streaming service to Australia next week

Ahead of a full launch next year, Microsoft has today announced that their cloud game streaming service, Project xCloud, is arriving in Australia next week.

The Project xCloud service will launch on November 18th as a free trial, which you can sign-up to for right now. Microsoft says the trial is invite only, but they’ll be sending them out to as many people as possible ‘over the coming days and weeks’.

If you’re unfamiliar with Project xCloud, it’s a cloud game streaming service, which means the game runs in data centres run by Microsoft, with the game then streamed to an Android device (iOS is hopefully coming, but Microsoft has some issues to work through with Apple) which can be controlled with a connected game controller. Microsoft is the first to launch their cloud streaming service in Australia, with other cloud game streaming services like Google’s Stadia, Nvidia’s GeForce Now and Amazon’s Luna not having announced local availability as yet.

The Project xCloud trial will be free while Microsoft ‘test, iterate and gather feedback to help us shape the experience’ in Australia – or in other words, while they test out our internet speeds. xCloud is available in markets as part of the GamePass service which costs $15.95 per month, though includes a lot more games than this initial trial.

Microsoft’s Project xCloud trial will include 25 games from both Microsoft and their partners including titles such as Minecraft Dungeons, Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Forza Horizon 4, as well as Black Desert, PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds and Yakuza 0.

Cloud streaming services offer a lot more convenience for gamers, all you need is your Android phone, a controller and an internet connection capable of streaming. I can’t wait to try playing these games out on my lunch break at work, and if you want to give it a go as well, head over and sign up for the trial now.

Full list of 25 games coming:

·        ARK: Survival Evolved (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Batman: Arkham Knight (AU, BR, MX)

·        Black Desert (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        CODE VEIN (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Cricket 19 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        DayZ (AU)

·        Dead by Daylight: Special Edition (AU, BR, MX)

·        Destiny 2 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Devil May Cry 5 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        eFootball PES 2020 (AU, BR, MX)

·        F1 2019 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Forza Horizon 4 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Gears 5 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger Ix (JP)

·        Halo Wars 2: Standard Edition (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Halo: The Master Chief Collection (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (AU, BR, MX)

·        HITMAN (AU, BR, MX)

·        Just Cause 4 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition (JP)

·        Minecraft Dungeons – Windows 10 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae (JP)

·        Ori and the Will of the Wisps (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        PLAYERUNKNOWN’S BATTLEGROUNDS (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        ReCore (JP)

·        RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Sea of Thieves (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Shadow of the Tomb Raider (AU, BR, MX)

·        Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Skyforge (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Smite (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Stellaris: Console Edition (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Tekken 7 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        WWE 2K20 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Yakuza 0 (AU, BR, MX, JP)