Xbox Game Pass could soon be integrated into your smart TV

Xbox Game Pass could soon be integrated into your smart TV

Your smart TV may be about to get Xbox Game Pass, it seems. Ahead of the E3 2021 showcase, Microsoft and Xbox hinted at the future of the Game Pass platform, confirming that it could soon be coming to living room TVs without the need for an Xbox Series X or Xbox Series console. S. A press release for the announcement states that "Xbox is working with global TV manufacturers to bring the Xbox experience directly to Internet-connected TVs with no additional hardware required except a controller." This means that smart TVs like Samsung, LG, Sony, Hisense, and TCL could all get a native Xbox Game Pass app that sits alongside YouTube, Netflix, and Disney Plus, allowing you to try out any of the 300+ games on Xbox. the growing Game Pass library. within the same smart TV platform, without a console. You'll need an Xbox controller or Xbox-compatible gamepad, of course, but the potential disruption here for home gaming is huge. Game Pass is currently the crown jewel of Xbox. With hundreds of games to try, day one launches for first-party games, and cloud-based games starting to roll into Game Pass Ultimate, this monthly subscription service sits at the heart of the Xbox platform today. Hui and is the main threat to the leading position in the PlayStation market. However, this is not all. Liz Hamren, CVP of Gaming Experiences & Platforms, tells us that Xbox "is also developing standalone streaming devices that you can connect to a TV or monitor, so if you have a good internet connection, you can stream your Xbox experience." If you don't have a smart TV that supports Xbox Game Pass, or if you don't want to upgrade your home TV yet, you should be able to purchase a streaming dongle accessory that plugs into your TV's HDMI port. And load the Game Pass app like this. "We do all of this because Game Pass works," says Hamren. “It works for consumers and it works for publishers. With Game Pass, players spend 20% more time playing. They play 30% more genres and 40% more games overall, including games outside of their Game Pass membership. In a recent survey, we found that over 90% of members said they had played a game that they otherwise would not have played without Game Pass.

Can consoles and streaming coexist?

Xbox manager Phil Spencer is optimistic about the future of Xbox console hardware, though he proselytizes the potential of cloud gaming to disrupt the gaming landscape and make the Xbox platform even more accessible. "There's always a place for consoles and PC, and frankly there always will be," says Spencer. “But thanks to the cloud, we will be able to deliver a robust gaming experience to anyone who is connected to the Internet, even on the least powerful and cheapest devices, the devices that people already have. And with the cloud, gamers can fully participate in the same Xbox experience as people using local hardware. Liz Hamren also suggests that Xbox "is already hard at work on new hardware and platforms, some of which won't be revealed for years." It seems we've only seen a small part of the picture so far, but the arrival of Xbox games Xbox Pass to smart TVs and streaming devices, especially with the integration of cloud gaming that doesn't require advanced gaming hardware, is sure to be an exciting thing for gamers around the world, and it's sure to become a hot topic for TV manufacturers in the coming years Just as some TV brands were slow to start introducing HDMI 2.1 for next-gen console connections, manufacturers that jumped on Game Pass early on could also see the benefits.