There is some bad news for those who have a Xbox Game Pass subscription, but good news for those who do not.

Microsoft on Thursday, September 3, announced that it is opening up Xbox Cloud Gaming access to people without a Game Pass subscription (which starts at Rs 499 per month) from November 2026 onwards.

The pay-as-you-go-model is expected to cater to those who do not use cloud access enough to warrant a monthly subscription. It is part of broader changes coming to Xbox Cloud gaming, including major monthly limits for existing and new Game Pass subscribers. Game Pass Ultimate subscribers, the highest tier costing Rs 1,089 per month, will be limited to just 15 hours each month.

The move could force Game Pass subscribers to pay separately for hourly bundles or rely on cloud gaming less. It comes at a time when Microsoft is looking to attract more players to its Xbox ecosystem through cloud and mobile gaming. Asha Sharma, the new CEO of Xbox, has reportedly set an ambitious goal of boosting the gaming platform’s user base to a billion people each day.

In the past, Microsoft has explored launching an Xbox mobile store, with the aim of allowing people to purchase an Xbox game and then immediately stream it to their device.

The Xbox team, in a blog post, said that it is making these changes “because the cost of providing cloud gaming grows as more people use it and play for longer.“

“Players will be able to purchase cloud playtime hours through the Xbox Store and stream eligible games they own on supported devices. This will provide another option for people who want occasional access to cloud gaming or do not want a recurring Game Pass subscription,” the company said.

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“We recognize that introducing limits is a meaningful change, particularly for players who regularly spend more time gaming through the cloud. We expect this upcoming change to impact four percent of Game Pass subscribers,” it added. Microsoft is also reportedly testing free, ad-supported cloud gaming for Xbox Insiders.

What changes for Game Pass subscribers

In 2025, Microsoft first opened up access to its cloud gaming service beyond Ultimate subscribers, to Xbox Game Pass Premium and Essential tiers. So far, all Game Pass plans have included unlimited cloud gaming.

It was one of the big draws of having a Game Pass subscription. However, all of that is going to change from November this year as everyone who has gotten used to the new feature may end up having to pay for more hours of gaming.

While Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be limited to 15 hours each month, Premium subscribers will have 10 hours monthly and Essential subscribers will be limited to a mere five hours per month.

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Those who run out of their allotted hours will have to purchase additional cloud playtime in the form of hourly bundles on the Xbox store. Unused hours will roll over to the next month, but their exact pricing and other details are not yet known.