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October 23, 2026 7:01 pm
Xbox wants you to pay 24 to 40 cents per hour to stream games you already bought

Time-based a la carte charges come on top of the purchase price for the games themselves.

In September, when Microsoft severely limited the game-streaming buffet available to Game Pass subscribers, the company said non-subscribers would soon be able to “purchase cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and stream eligible games they own on supported devices.” Today, Microsoft rolled out those a la carte Cloud Playtime purchases to Xbox Insiders, with prices that might be a bit galling for players who have already purchased these streamable games.
The “introductory launch pricing” for Xbox’s Cloud Playtime purchases is as follows:

10 hours for $4 (~$0.40/hour)
25 hours for $8 (~$0.32/hour)
50 hours for $12 (~$0.24/hour)

Purchased playtime “remains available until it’s used,” Microsoft writes, so you don’t have to worry about your 50-hour purchase expiring before you can use it fully.Read full article
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Source: Ars Technica

πŸ”‘ Key Takeaways

  • Wire dispatch directly ingested from Ars Technica - All content.
  • Published at Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:06.
  • Source URL: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/10/xbox-wants-you-to-pay-24-to-40-cents-per-hour-to-stream-games-you-already-bought/