Microsoft plans to save older Xbox consoles with cloud streaming

Microsoft is pushing ahead with its Xbox Series X cutting-edge hardware, with games that are slated only for new-gen consoles, such as Starfield. Where does that leave console owners on original Xbox One consoles, which are starting to get a bit long in the tooth. Games like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite are starting to showcase the power of the new consoles, but there are still millions of users on the original Xbox One, which are barely capable of 1080p gaming in some cases. That could be about to change.

In a blog post on Xbox Wire, Microsoft stated its intent to bring some cloud streaming goodness to older consoles to help them keep up.

For the millions of people who play on Xbox One consoles today, we are looking forward to sharing more about how we will bring many of these next-gen games, such as Microsoft Flight Simulator, to your console through Xbox Cloud Gaming, just like we do with mobile devices, tablets, and browsers.

We’ve heard for a while that Microsoft plans to bring Xbox Game Pass cloud gaming to some of their older consoles. I often wonder whether this could also include Xbox 360 someday. Microsoft also confirmed that it is working to bring Xbox Game Pass cloud streaming to TV sets and new streaming-only devices in the future. Perhaps we could even get a shrunk Xbox One “classic” that gives you the ability to play Xbox One games natively, alongside Xbox cloud streaming for more intensive future games.

Microsoft’s E3 2021 showcase really slammed home how serious the company is about Xbox. Insane value, mountains of games, and many of the best games of E3 2021 are coming day and date to Xbox Game Pass too. It’s certainly a great time to be in the Xbox ecosystem.

Where do we go from here?

E3 2021 itself was just a big mess

E3 showed this year that not only is it continuing to lose relevance, but that it doesn’t know how to put on a virtual show.