Yesterday evening, my wife, my child, and I went for a small walk in Bursa. The weather was cool and breezy, you know? At that moment, I remembered something called Xbox Cloud Gaming. Actually, a friend mentioned it last month, saying, “Play games via the cloud; you don’t need a powerful device.” Naturally, I got curious—since I enjoy taking breaks while coding to play games, but my home computer sometimes falls short. Anyway, we sat down for coffee, and when I got home, I decided to try it immediately. I think this kind of cloud gaming is perfect for me, because I sometimes want to play on my phone even when going hiking.
But first, shall I explain what it is? Xbox Cloud Gaming is a cloud-based service by Microsoft, which runs games on their servers and streams them to your device. As long as your internet connection is stable, the rest is handled by them. I think it’s fantastic because it eliminates the need to buy an expensive console. I remember considering buying a PlayStation once, but the price made me give up. With cloud gaming, everything changes—you can play from your phone, tablet, or even your computer. Ultimately, the gaming world isn’t the same—it’s accessible from anywhere.
By the way, I saw a guy at the market last week holding a device like an Xbox controller, and I asked, “What’s that?” He said, “For cloud gaming.” Pretty interesting, right? 🙂 I don’t know why he was at the market, but it caught my attention. Anyway, back to the topic. When I started trying this system, I experienced the initial shock with my internet at around 50 Mbps, yet the gameplay was smooth as butter. I was a bit concerned about lag, because lag can be annoying during online games.
How Does Xbox Cloud Gaming Work?
Let me explain the basics. You subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes cloud gaming. Then, you download the app or access via the browser. You select and play games as if they are running locally on your device. But your internet needs to be stable, otherwise, it disconnects. Based on my experience, wired connection is better than Wi-Fi, but mobile data can suffice. They say a minimum of 10 Mbps, but I recommend around 20-30 Mbps for smoother gameplay.
It just came to my mind—last year while camping, sitting on the slopes of Uludağ, I tried playing a game from my phone, but the signal was weak, and the game lagged. I didn’t know about cloud gaming back then; perhaps it would’ve been different if I had. Well, gaming outdoors might not be so ideal, but enjoying the scenery is better, right? 🙂 Still, these technologies make life easier. Ultimately, I have limited time, and I want to play occasionally while spending time with my family.
There’s also the controller issue. The Xbox controller connects via Bluetooth to your phone or device. I tested it while developing a C# project—it’s useful for API integrations and testing. Developers can benefit too, since they can fetch game data using REST APIs. I didn’t go too deep into that; I just played. Honestly, it runs heavyweight games like Assassin’s Creed smoothly.
What Are the Advantages?
Of course, there are many advantages. First, there’s no hardware cost—you don’t need to buy an expensive PC. Second, you can play from anywhere—at home in Bursa or while on vacation. Third, the game library is vast with hundreds of titles via Game Pass. It’s simple—subscribe, download the app, choose the game, and start playing. Isn’t that great?
But there are disadvantages too. If your internet drops, the game stops. You can’t play offline. Once, during an intense scene, the power went out, and the internet modem reset. I waited 15 minutes; I was annoyed because my progress was lost. Since that day, I’ve considered getting an UPS. But that’s a common issue everywhere, right?
By the way, you can find detailed information on Xbox official site (hl=us), including subscription options. I checked there, and the monthly cost is around $15-20. I believe it’s available in Turkey as well; I access it smoothly from Bursa.
Let me share a quick story: last Sunday morning, I woke early, made coffee, and my son was still sleeping. I opened the Xbox app on my phone and played Forza Horizon. About half an hour, I drove cars across Bursa’s roads; it felt like an adventure around the city. My wife woke up and asked, “Playing again?” We laughed. It was a perfect start to the day. Like a win story 🙂
But I also faced failures. One evening, after finishing a coding project, I took a break and switched to cloud gaming, playing Sea of Thieves. But the lag started because my internet slowed down—perhaps my neighbor was downloading something. The game froze for 5 minutes. My mistake—I was up late, about 10 PM, and didn’t think about traffic. I closed the game and went to bed angry 🙂