Xbox Cloud Gaming and local streaming are now available on PC for all

Xbox’s roll-out of its cloud streaming services is continuing apace – it’s just announced that Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Remote Play are both now available to everyone through the Windows 10 Xbox app.

Xbox Cloud Gaming: Price, platforms and everything you need to know

The features have been available to early testers for a little while through the Xbox Insider programme, but are clearly now ready for more widespread use, letting the general public in.

It’s a great change, widening the range of devices that you can play Xbox’s games on using the cloud, and opening up graphically-intensive games for those of us whose PCs might not pack that big a punch.

Of course, you’ll still need a stable internet connection with decent bandwidth, but that’s probably less of a hurdle than securing a mammoth graphics card or building your own extreme gaming PC from scratch.

One barrier, though, is that you will need a gamepad to play, since many of the games supported can’t accommodate a keyboard and mouse control setup – plus, of course, you’ll need a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate.

Remote Play is a little simpler compared to Cloud Gaming, letting you stream games over your home network or the internet, between your own console and another device. This is a great way of sharing your main TV without having to give up your gaming time entirely.