Xbox finds new way to charge cloud gaming subscribers for cloud gaming

Microsoft is enshittifying its newly launched cloud gaming subscription at an astonishing rate. Less than a year after opening up Xbox’s unlimited cloud gaming, previously only available through an Ultimate Game Pass subscription, it’s already placing heavy screen-time restrictions. Per a recent blog post (via The Verge), under the new model, Game Pass Ultimate subscribers get 15 hours of game time, Premium subscribers get 10 hours, and Essential will have to make do with five. To sweeten the deal for Microsoft shareholders, Ultimate gamers who want more than 15 hours can purchase additional time via the Xbox Store. Tellingly, the company didn’t offer bottom-line details on how much this will cost or exactly when in November this change will begin.