We've long been fans of Xbox Play Anywhere here at Pure Xbox, but it's not always been promoted as well as we'd like - Microsoft makes it very difficult to see a full list of games that actually support the Play Anywhere program.
In fact, fans have discovered that over 1,100 Xbox games are included with Xbox Play Anywhere, and we feel that Microsoft really isn't promoting this enough! After all, it's a really cool feature that allows you to buy a game on your Xbox console and get the PC version for free - often with cross-save and cross-progression support as well.
There's good news to kick off the year though. In yesterday's Xbox Developer Direct showcase, it was mentioned at the very start of the broadcast that every featured game would support Xbox Play Anywhere as well as Xbox Cloud Gaming, meaning the likes of DOOM: The Dark Ages and Ninja Gaiden 4 will be applicable for this cross-buy perk.
Here's a look if you missed it:
Is this a sign of bigger things to come for Xbox Play Anywhere? It's hard to say right now, but considering it's very rarely been mentioned until this week, as well as the big multiplatform push that Xbox is clearly in the midst of, we wouldn't be surprised if Xbox is planning some kind of marketing refresh and a bigger role for the program this year.
Let's hope so, anyway! It'd be great to see many more games getting Xbox Play Anywhere support in 2025...
Were you glad to see this? Do you use Xbox Play Anywhere often? Tell us in the comments below.
Comments 20
I hope more current releases do this. It feels great when i can play the Xbox on the TV, then take my game portable with the ROG Ally X. Fits my lifestyle perfectly!
If Play Anywhere become the normality of release, I would drop any other platform instantly. It seems extremely difficult outside of first party, though because publishers would lose potential sold copies
I just have this feeling Microsoft is setting themselves up perfectly for a future that most can't see yet.
I expect EVERY Microsoft title going forward to support Play Anywere, Cloud, Buy Once, Cross-save and Cross-progression, which is great.
But I wonder how many third parties will support this, that will dictate how successful this initiative really is.
I always felt for first-party releases, it's been generally a given that it's play anywhere (sans games that were developed pre-acquisition, like COD but I expect the next one to be play anywhere). Third-party games were the question mark.
Great to see Clair Obscur and Ninja Gaiden are Play Anywhere, it’s crucial to get third parties on board. I do worry third party support is going to be limited to Game Pass day 1 deals only though, they need to ensure a broad take up outside of GPU.
If all the rumours about next Xbox merging console and PC together in one Windows device are accurate, then everything needs to be Play Anywhere for a smooth transition and it absolutely needs to apply retroactively too. Anything else would be a betrayal of current console owners.
So yeah, a promising sign, and more Play Anywhere in future please. Imagine if they have the same claim with the summer showcase, what a statement that would be. That’s the level of commitment that’s needed to make this whole transition successful.
They’re definitely trying to bridge Xbox and PC more and more but I wish they’d make it retroactive, so that all Xbox, Bethesda and Activision titles have this too, it’s the very least they can do with them disregarding the console so heavily.
It's such an awesome feature. Xbox truly has the best ecosystem of the big 3 consoles, and the pairing between the Xbox and Rog ally (no doubt soon to be the Xbox handheld in future) with play anywhere is so satisfying for me
No dam, really you must be joking, Microsoft not promoting something great about Xbox.
Just one of many great Xbox things that the general public know nothing about.
Even the poor Xbox console got absolutely trashed in December in the USA just over 2:1 by Sony.
Microsoft I can’t stand them.
They just need to improve the streaming experience because as good as it is to play Xbox on anything the resolution or fps isn't great at all even while streaming a game on the series x!
Hopefully considering they are really pushing this lately improvements are on the way!
@Ricky-Spanish
I tried streaming on series x UK 200mb/sec and what a mess it was, picture was awful.
I then tried on PS5 spider man 2 and it was ok ish, definitely not my way to play but just about passable.
What I don’t understand is Microsoft are ramming this crap cloud gaming down our throats which let’s be honest in a mass market no one is interested in and it’s miles worse than Sony streaming.
How can it be worse than Sonys.
@OldGamer999 Yeah I really don't get how Microsoft the kings supposedly of the cloud in all it's forms have worse game streaming than Sony??
And they are pushing it forward like it's in anyway similar to console gaming!!
Games look better on the original VCR Xbox one!!
XBox needs to retroactively apply "Play Anywhere" to all the games in the marketplace. It's the only way that the "Everything is an Xbox" campaign can work.
@Ricky-Spanish
Yeah especially with all those cloud servers and series x cloud blades along side the servers.
I think they just make it all up.
Also Sony push 1080p and Microsoft push 720p. Work that out.
It'd be pretty huge if they did this for every title moving forward. Third party would be questionable, but I suppose they could implement that for GP titles as a stipulation, right?
@OldGamer999 Sounds like we are the test audience but they do still say it's in beta after years and years they need to improve it big time this year to make any sort of profit of it,
I have been so tempted to put Windows on my Steam Deck for this exact reason. This may push me more into that direction.
This is all welcome news. Nothing much to say expect yes. Them even explaining it at the start was fantastic (because I don't think many people even know what it is) was wonderful. Xbox is hands down the best console ecosystem in terms of value to consumer and they have a few tricks up their sleeve even Steam doesn't (but is creeping up on them with the console like SteamOS). They just need to market it.
@OldGamer999 There is an actual answer. Sony has been doing cloud gaming since 2014. They've been doing cloud gaming since before Xbox Game Pass existed as a native console only subscription service. Playstation Now initially launched in 2014 as a far more like Netflix streaming only subscription library for pre-PS4 GAMES (it was their "solution" to backwards compatibility). And this streaming service was available on PC, Sony TVs, and PS4 consoles. And it was TERRIBLE. It also cost $20 a month JUST for streaming. PS Now was such a failure they've killed the brand entirely. Regardless, they've been building their streaming infrastructure since before 2014 and testing it with customers in the wild since 2014. That was 10 years ago. Microsoft's venture in Azure doesn't magical give them cloud gaming infrastructure. They still have to build the servers for cloud gaming and upgrade them and test them and these use Xbox console hardware. The big problem with cloud gaming is building up the infrastructure. People even got mad at Xbox before for using console hardware compotents for cloud gaming which artificially decreased console production for sale. Even Nvidia right now (hands down the best cloud gaming service) is facing bottlenecks in servers and data centers.
To answer your question, Sony has been building cloud gaming hardware and testing it since 2014 (really before 2014 as 2014 is when they released PS Now to the public). Microsoft has been building cloud gaming hardware and testing it openly since 2020/2021 (2019 for the smaller testing and closed Beta). Any cloud gaming now from any provider is LEAGUES better than PS Now when it initially dropped, but Sony has had the longest time to build their infrastructure and test it. It should really be better than it is now.
@themightyant Japanese publishers have done a REALLY good job of supporting it. I think Microsoft probably pitched it when they do these deals and communications to bring games to Xbox. All the new Yakuza and ATLUS games have it day one (even the ones that don't lunch on game pass). Bandai, Capcom, and Square do it but it's also more iffy. The big big releases tend to skip it. I think the issue now is Microsoft having to strong arm publishers to do it. It might not even be costly, but Microsoft Store/Xbox App on PC just is NOT a popular enough PC launcher/store. I imagine they're doing a lot of work to improve that and make it easier for devs to build and ship games at the same time across console, cloud, and PC.
@WildConcept6
Thank you for your detailed response. Was a great read.
As for myself can’t stand cloud gaming for main big tv gaming like I do on a 65” Sony qd-oled. I like the full experience full 4K, 60fps, VRR,HDR, Dolby atmos etc.
The cloud stuff for main gaming is an absolute abomination from all sides for me.
And I’m not sure it will ever get to the maximum experience like I get on a home consoles game download ever.
@OldGamer999 Of course, of course. I'll say personally with fibre (fiber? You know what I mean) upt to 1gbps (closer to 500 download and 300 upload Mbps) internet Nvidia cloud gaming feels and looks better than what I can achieve natively, but that's only with the Ultimate tier which uses a PC rig beyond what consoles are capable of for the huge price of $20 a month (games sold separately). That said I don't even have access to a 60inch QOLED so can't comment there.
I don't see a reason why it wouldn't ever get to the maximum experience like you get from downloading. As long as technology continues to improve and providers continue to build the necessary servers and data centers. Internet on the whole is also still improving. I wouldn't expect it to get there tomorrow, but eventually the infrastructure will support an experience that looks and feels nearly as good as native consistently. Just like Bluetooth headphones vs wired and streaming music/TV. The absolute best experience will always be with wired connections and downloads, but streaming and wireless eventually got so close most people can't tell the difference. It's unlikely that cloud gaming will never get there. The question that remains is how long will it take. A lot of it is unfortunately out of the providers control. For example internet infrastructure in the US alone is far from uniform and it is incredibly pricey for people to get good internet. Cloud Gaming is trying to teach casual audiences, but for a lot of people the cost of the setup needed for good cloud gaming, if they have good enough internet at all, is more than just buying a console.
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