Xbox Cloud Gaming Finally Delivers the Goods with 1440p Resolution and 60FPS

Microsoft has spent years developing its cloud streaming service, and today is the big moment. After more than five years in beta, Xbox Cloud Gaming has transitioned from preview to full production. Subscribers can now stream games at higher resolutions, with improved visuals and smoother animation, without the need for a high-end console or PC. These improvements will primarily affect the top-tier Game Pass Ultimate subscription, but they will also extend cloud access to lower-tier plans.

Streams now reach 1440p, or 2560 x 1440 pixels, for a select popular games. Games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Fallout 4, and Cyberpunk 2077 look fantastic on larger displays, from the gleam of armor in torchlight to the subtle changes in foggy environments. This degree of resolution is free of the compression artifacts that plagued previous versions, when fast camera sweeps left trails of fuzzy afterimages. Microsoft developers tuned the encoding to keep edges sharp even during intense action sequences. Players are reporting that spinning through a crowded battlefield in Cyberpunk now looks as clean as running the game locally on solid hardware.

Frame rates remain consistent at 60fps here, which is significant for titles that previously stuttered at half that speed, like Dying Light: The Beast, which used to run at 30fps – choppy enough to draw you away from the zombie pursuit. Supported games now lock in at 60 frames per second, ensuring that every dodge and swing lands precisely. The difference is especially noticeable in open-world games, because large distances necessitate frequent rendering. During a recent demo with the ROG Xbox Ally portable, The Witcher 3 maintained its pace through monster hunts and horseback excursions throughout war-torn countryside.

Bitrate improves overall quality, reaching 27mbps for Ultimate users. Most streams today are about 10mbps, however this new ceiling eliminates blocky artifacts caused by explosions or rain-slicked drives. Testers on a 50mbps 5G connection discovered that the feed remained stable even with poor signals, with no lag spikes to disrupt immersion. Devices can achieve up to 17mbps in ideal conditions, but the full 27mbps is only possible with wired or robust Wi-Fi connections. These enhancements build on 2021 technology that closely resembles Xbox Series X internals, resulting in speedier load times and support for modern game optimisations without the need for new silicon launches.

It’s no longer just for the premium crowd, since Game Pass Ultimate users get the whole package straight away – at no extra cost, even with the recent price increase to $29.99 per month. Cloud streaming is now included in the Essential and Premium tiers, although at lesser resolutions and with longer queue times. Launch the Xbox app on your phone, tablet, or connected TV to play your personal games or the whole collection. The service is already embedded into Samsung smart TVs, and LG will follow suit soon.

Performance has increased overall as well, encouraging experimentation. The latency between button presses and on-screen reactions is nearly nil, so remote gaming seems instant. Upcoming Xbox controllers with Wi-Fi Direct will reduce that even further by bypassing the host device entirely. The rollout will be game-by-game, with the most popular games coming first, followed by the balance of the catalog – every 3D title will be available in due time. Unlike NVIDIAa’s GeForce NOW, this setup has no session limitations or monthly hour limits, allowing marathons to run uninterrupted.
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