Bethesda's epic sci-fi RPG is here, and it's a big one. From shipbuilding to exploring the surface of Mars, our thoughts so far.
Starfield Review... In Progress
The first trailer for Grand Theft Auto 6 is finally here.
Grand Theft Auto 6 Trailer
We take an in-depth look at Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and tell you why it should be heavily on your radar!
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - a Deep-Dive into its Potential
Range-wise, the ROG Rapture GT6 is phenomenal, and it's ideal for all gaming and non-gaming-related tasks.
ASUS ROG Rapture GT6 WiFi 6 Mesh System Review
Post by KostaAndreadis @ 02:24pm 12/11/20 | 0 Comments
The cloud-based future is slowly making its way to our shores, and perhaps the most enticing version of it – Microsoft’s Project xCloud is set to begin its beta/preview program next week on November 18. With Microsoft and Team Xbox rolling out the service to new countries featuring Microsoft’s Azure datacentres - Australia, Brazil, Japan, and Mexico.

Even though the game streaming service has been available in some regions for some time, rolling out any network provides its own challenges no matter the location. Something Australians are all too familiar with.

Ahead of the announcement we got the chance to speak with Kareem Choudhry, corporate vice president, Gaming Cloud to talk about the preview program, how important it is to properly test and manage the rollout, and the all-important Xbox Game Pass factor.

“We're running pretty largely at scale,” Kareem tells us. “So, from our backend services to how our hardware behaves, we've got a lot of the major kinks ironed out. But what we have found is that every country is different, every region is different. We make no assumptions. What's working for us in Korea or in Canada or in Germany might not be the right combination in Australia. It's really important for us to get out there and test the mobile infrastructure and the general internet connections across Australia.”

And from there adapt.

“We're going to be ready to tune, to listen, to see the feedback and the telemetry, which is also built into the experience. When we bring it to release it will become a part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.”

And there’s those magic words, Game Pass. Something that Project xCloud will leverage in the preview period – with the following games all playable within Australia. A sizable list featuring some pretty big games across a wide range of genres.


  • ARK: Survival Evolved
  • Batman: Arkham Knight
  • Black Desert
  • Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon
  • CODE VEIN
  • Cricket 19
  • DayZ
  • Dead by Daylight: Special Edition
  • Destiny 2
  • Devil May Cry 5
  • eFootball PES 2020
  • F1 2019
  • Forza Horizon 4
  • Gears 5
  • Halo Wars 2: Standard Edition
  • Halo: The Master Chief Collection
  • Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
  • HITMAN
  • Just Cause 4
  • Minecraft Dungeons
  • Ori and the Will of the Wisps
  • PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS
  • RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard
  • Sea of Thieves
  • Shadow of the Tomb Raider
  • Sid Meier's Civilization VI
  • Skyforge
  • Smite
  • Stellaris: Console Edition
  • Tekken 7
  • WWE 2K20
  • Yakuza 0

  • Unlike other competing services that feel standalone, Project xCloud’s integration into the existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ecosystem feels perfect. So much so that it feels the next step in a meticulous plan that was put into motion several years ago at Xbox HQ. Was it?

    “Going back to creation of Game Pass, I remember after we launched Phil [Spencer] and I were talking about how we could bring that great experience to more and more people,” Kareem recalls. “So, it was really a number of different technology trends coming together at the same time, as well as our ambition to put the player at the centre of everything that we do. How can we deliver and give more choice to our fans? Let's do it on console, let's do it on PC, and then let's go and do it on every device. The cloud is the way you deliver that.”

    Project xCloud (Preview) will be available from November 18 – head here to register.



    project xcloudcloud gamingxboxgame pass ultimateaustraliapreviewbeta





    Latest Comments
    No comments currently exist. Be the first to comment!
    Commenting has been locked for this item.