Microsoft launches xCloud tomorrow with more than 150 games

It should have close to double the games to play versus Stadia by the end of the year

In context: Microsoft's cloud gaming service, formerly known as Project xCloud, launches tomorrow. The platform still does not have an official name and is now just a part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bundle, so we'll continue to call it xCloud for simplicity's sake.

Microsoft announced on Monday that xCloud would launch this Tuesday with more than 150 playable games. That is quite a competitive start since Google's Stadia platform began with only 22 titles in November of last year and is currently at 116, with only four more new games being added in 2020.

As we previously reported, xCloud has been tossed into the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for free. This perk kicks in on Tuesday, September 15, with an update to the Game Pass app for Android devices. Microsoft wanted to bring the service to iOS users, but Apple is making it difficult for streaming platforms to get into the App Store.

Microsoft said it has more than 150 games lined up for xCloud, but a quick count of the list provided in its press release revealed 172 unique titles. This total also does not include the games provided through EA Play, which the company said is being bundled into Game Pass Ultimate sometime during the holiday season. So when the dust settles, xCloud should have nearly double the library of Stadia by the end of the year.

Obviously, the preferred method for controlling games when playing on your Android phone is going to be a physical controller like Razer's Kishi. However, Xbox posted a video today (above) indicating it is working on bringing touch controls to xCloud games. The first will be Minecraft Dungeons. Players will also be able to adjust the size of the screen's controller GUI. Other games that should be getting touch support soon include Gears 5 and Senua's Sacrifice since the betas already have it. It is reasonable to assume that many others are in the process of having touch controls added.

If you want to see a full list of xCloud's launch titles, Microsoft included them in its press release.