Microsoft just launched a service for Xbox Insiders that brings all cloud-playable games, along with play histories, to the official Xbox PC app. This includes console exclusives spanning multiple generations and hundreds of other releases. The service extends to games owned by the player and Game Pass titles.
The big hook here is that recently-played games will follow people across devices, including Xbox consoles, PCs and Windows handhelds. This will make it easier for folks to jump back into something, even when going from, say, an Xbox Series X to a PC.
The new “play history” section of the PC app and Xbox console UI will display cloud games as recently-played titles, and this list follows people wherever they go. It includes cloud-powered game saves, so there will be no wasted time. Being as this is all part of Xbox Cloud Gaming, players will be able to start a game on a console and finish on a PC, even if that title isn’t available natively on the second platform.
There’s also a new search filter in the library section for cloud games, along with a “jump back in” list on the home screen of the app. “While the large tiles highlight games you’ve recently played on your current device, the play history tile shows games you’ve played across any Xbox device, making it easy to pick up where you left off,” the company wrote in a blog post.
This is all thanks to the redesigned library feature for the Xbox app. This allows games purchased from various platforms to all be launched from the same place.