According to recent reports, Microsoft is readying the release of an Xbox Streaming Stick. The device would essentially allow you to stream games, movies, and television shows through Game Pass Ultimate. The exact release date for the Xbox Streaming Stick is unknown at this point, but the initial reports suggest that the Xbox Streaming Stick could arrive within the next 12-months.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is a service that is currently in beta and is part of the Game Pass service. Many games that you’ll find in the Game Pass service are available to be played with a controller or with touch screen controls on a mobile device or browser. At the moment, anyone who wants to try the Xbox Cloud Gaming Beta can play Fortnite for free on the Xbox Cloud Gaming service. While Fortnite is free to play on the service, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play over 100 games on a tablet or phone currently.
However, with this recent report it’s looking like the number of devices that will be able access this streaming content is getting ready to expand with the Xbox Streaming Stick. Initial reports suggest that it might not be a stick at all, rather a puck, but the purpose of this device is that be used to stream content to televisions or monitors, much like you would find in an Amazon Fire Stick or Roku Streaming Stick.
With the proof of concept out of the way in streaming content to mobile devices, this is a logical progression for the Xbox Streaming offering. As with many devices such as these that make great gifts, it would make a lot of sense for Microsoft to have something to offer consumers when they’re spending their holiday shopping dollars so a late-2022 release would sound likely.
A fall release of the Xbox Streaming Stick could also fill the void on shelves this holiday season if manufacturing of the Xbox consoles remains tight. Since it launched a couple of years back, the Xbox consoles have been extremely high demand with supply trickling in sporadically.
Microsoft has dabbled in hardware over the years and one of their biggest ventures has been the Xbox brand, though Microsoft has traditionally been a software and more recently a software as a service company. Focusing on Game Pass offerings and allowing consumers to jump into this ever-expanding ecosystem of games at a lower price point than a dedicated console would make sense if they want to continue to grow the service.
Look for the Xbox Streaming Stick to arrive sometime in the next year, and when it does, owners will be able to stream content much in the manner that they are able to do now with the service.
