Wyatt21
Member
Microsoft recently opened registration to xCloud for French residents. If you are lucky, you will normally have received confirmation of your access to the beta phase of the cloud gaming service in your mailbox. Still in early access, the experience is not yet 100% representative of what the service will look like when it is launched worldwide. In addition, if everything is currently accessible free of charge, we will have to wait to see which economic format will be selected at the exit.
What does it take to play via xCloud?
Before you start playing your favorite games from your smartphone via the xCloud app, you need to have some prerequisites:
Note: be careful, if you play via a 4G connection, your data consumption may be significant.
How is the xCloud service presented on a smartphone?
If you have received an invitation to test xCloud, you only need to log in with your Microsoft account to have access to the cloud gaming service. As soon as you open the application, you must therefore select the right service. To do this, simply click on the three small parallel bars at the top left of the screen and choose “Project xCloud”.
You then arrive directly on an interface where the games compatible with xCloud are listed. It is from this menu that you can launch any available title, even those that you do not have. Just click on the game tile and select “play / read”. The game will launch as if you were on an Xbox One console.
Once you're in the game, almost everything is the same as when you play from your Xbox console. The only difference is that you have access to a simplified Xbox Guide menu. Indeed, the latter stands out from the various parameters related to the console, the Xbox Store and other multimedia features. You only have access to your social interactions, your friends list and your successes.
How to create or join a group of friends via xCloud?
Without a real “console” interface, one might wonder if it is possible to create or join a group of friends via the xCloud application. The answer is yes, but there are a few steps to follow.
If it is entirely possible to join a group and chat with friends as if you were on your console, using groups via xCloud is a bit more tedious. Firstly, you need to connect headphones fitted with a microphone to speak with your friends. We can simply use the microphone built into the smartphone but the experience is not optimal since the voices and the sound of the game will pass through the speaker in addition to being picked up by the microphone.
The ideal solution currently is to connect a hands-free kit directly to the smartphone. In this way, the sound of the game as well as the voices of friends will come out in the headphones. You can also connect the headphones directly to the jack port of the controller to have only the sound of voices in the headphones and the sound of the game via the speakers of the phone, unfortunately, the latter being often very close to the microphone, the people in the group will hear the sound of your game echoing. This solution is however the one to favor if you choose to broadcast from your smartphone to a TV. The sound source will be far enough away from the microphone so that the latter does not pick it up.
Also make sure you have unchecked the “Muted sound” box in the application options each time you launch a game and thus authorized the smartphone and the application to use your microphone in xCloud.
How to play on a big screen via xCloud?
If playing on a smartphone is an interesting solution when you are on the move, the xCloud service is intended for people who do not have an Xbox console. Thus, they might want to take advantage of the service on their TV for example.
To enjoy xCloud on a large screen, you have several options. The first is to have an Android TV or box like Nvidia Shield or Xiaomi Mi Box. Just download the Xbox Game Streaming app from the Google Play Store, connect your controller via Bluetooth to your TV or multimedia box and play.
There is also another solution, that of broadcasting the screen of your smartphone directly to your television. It is indeed possible to broadcast mobile content directly on the big screen thanks to various mirroring solutions. If it is possible to connect the phone to a wireless TV, the input lag with this solution is however exacerbated. We therefore advise you to use a USB-C to HDMI cable . You can then directly connect your phone to the TV and play on your sofa as if you had your console. However, check that your phone is compatible with this solution. In our case, with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, there was no problem at this level during our tests.
What does it take to play via xCloud?
Before you start playing your favorite games from your smartphone via the xCloud app, you need to have some prerequisites:
- An Android smartphone
- The Xbox Game Streaming app
- Have received an invitation or register for the xCloud program
- An Xbox One Bluetooth compatible controller
- A solid internet connection
Note: be careful, if you play via a 4G connection, your data consumption may be significant.
How is the xCloud service presented on a smartphone?
If you have received an invitation to test xCloud, you only need to log in with your Microsoft account to have access to the cloud gaming service. As soon as you open the application, you must therefore select the right service. To do this, simply click on the three small parallel bars at the top left of the screen and choose “Project xCloud”.
You then arrive directly on an interface where the games compatible with xCloud are listed. It is from this menu that you can launch any available title, even those that you do not have. Just click on the game tile and select “play / read”. The game will launch as if you were on an Xbox One console.
Once you're in the game, almost everything is the same as when you play from your Xbox console. The only difference is that you have access to a simplified Xbox Guide menu. Indeed, the latter stands out from the various parameters related to the console, the Xbox Store and other multimedia features. You only have access to your social interactions, your friends list and your successes.
How to create or join a group of friends via xCloud?
Without a real “console” interface, one might wonder if it is possible to create or join a group of friends via the xCloud application. The answer is yes, but there are a few steps to follow.
If it is entirely possible to join a group and chat with friends as if you were on your console, using groups via xCloud is a bit more tedious. Firstly, you need to connect headphones fitted with a microphone to speak with your friends. We can simply use the microphone built into the smartphone but the experience is not optimal since the voices and the sound of the game will pass through the speaker in addition to being picked up by the microphone.
The ideal solution currently is to connect a hands-free kit directly to the smartphone. In this way, the sound of the game as well as the voices of friends will come out in the headphones. You can also connect the headphones directly to the jack port of the controller to have only the sound of voices in the headphones and the sound of the game via the speakers of the phone, unfortunately, the latter being often very close to the microphone, the people in the group will hear the sound of your game echoing. This solution is however the one to favor if you choose to broadcast from your smartphone to a TV. The sound source will be far enough away from the microphone so that the latter does not pick it up.
Also make sure you have unchecked the “Muted sound” box in the application options each time you launch a game and thus authorized the smartphone and the application to use your microphone in xCloud.
How to play on a big screen via xCloud?
If playing on a smartphone is an interesting solution when you are on the move, the xCloud service is intended for people who do not have an Xbox console. Thus, they might want to take advantage of the service on their TV for example.
To enjoy xCloud on a large screen, you have several options. The first is to have an Android TV or box like Nvidia Shield or Xiaomi Mi Box. Just download the Xbox Game Streaming app from the Google Play Store, connect your controller via Bluetooth to your TV or multimedia box and play.
There is also another solution, that of broadcasting the screen of your smartphone directly to your television. It is indeed possible to broadcast mobile content directly on the big screen thanks to various mirroring solutions. If it is possible to connect the phone to a wireless TV, the input lag with this solution is however exacerbated. We therefore advise you to use a USB-C to HDMI cable . You can then directly connect your phone to the TV and play on your sofa as if you had your console. However, check that your phone is compatible with this solution. In our case, with a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+, there was no problem at this level during our tests.
