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This Week in Videogames - TWIV
@thisweekinvideogames.com

TWIV has confirmed the regional pricing for Xbox's upcoming prepaid Cloud Playtime packages, as it applies to the US, UK, Europe, and Australia. 10 hours: US $3.99 / £2.99 / €3.49 / AU $5.95 25 hours: US $7.99 / £5.99 / €6.99 / AU $11.95 50 hours: US $11.99 / £8.99 / €10.99 / AU $17.95

This Week in Videogames - TWIV@thisweekinvideogames.com

Xbox has announced US pricing for "Cloud Playtime," prepaid blocks of time to use the company's cloud game streaming service. International pricing is to be confirmed. The company previously announced new time limits to Cloud Gaming for Game Pass subscribers, as well as ad-supported options.

thisweekinvideogames.comXbox Reveals 'Cloud Playtime' Prices For Prepaid Game Streaming TimeXbox says Cloud Playtime will roll out broadly in November 2026. The new purchasing options are currently available for Xbox Insider testing.

4 reposts30 likes

Rockalot
@rockalot.bsky.social

Honestly I might cop flak for this but if you don't have a gaming PC or console but you have a phone this would be a legit way to enjoy games and keep in touch with a lot of new releases. I can't comment on the pricing but it seems reasonable to me?

fw
@frwthr.bsky.social

I think most people's negative reaction to these are the lack of ownership. The whole "You'll own nothing and be happy" shtick. The whole point is that the price is reasonable, the service works fine, and it's an easy way to get ppl playing games. That's also all that makes it bad, in equal parts.

Meru
@itsmeru.bsky.social

Also I think most people don’t read the part about this only applies if you used all of the 15 included hours in your subscription. Makes me wonder: Does this include access to Game Pass Titles if you don’t have a subscription or do you have to pay on top if you don’t have Ultimate? 🤔

Rockalot
@rockalot.bsky.social

Thats a really interesting point. Increasingly we have seen a move to digital store fronts for other media where this has been the case for decades now. Im not saying that's right, but there is an undeniable mentality shift in society to accepting an experience over ownership.

dalto
@dalto2.bsky.social

It is amazing to me that there is a market for this. I can't imagine paying by the hour to access my games.

Meru
@itsmeru.bsky.social

I actually use cloud gaming quite a lot. I‘m a Mac user and I‘m in a stage of my life where I only have very limited time for games. So accessing my library without a big investment in hardware for chunks of time can be convenient. But I agree, there are all sorts of problems with this.