Microsoft's xCloud service builds upon the company's game streaming ambitions. Formerly known as Project xCloud, this service is designed to let users stream existing and future Xbox games to your console, PC, or mobile devices. What you get is console-quality games in a platform-agnostic manner, meaning that you can enjoy several of these on your phone while on-the-go. While there is still some time before everyone everywhere can have their own proverbial Xbox in the cloud, Microsoft is offering xCloud in a preview state to selected regions. xCloud preview is now available in 11 more countries from Europe.

Microsoft xCloud preview launched originally in the US, UK, and Korea back in September 2019. The service is now expanding to Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and Sweden. Interested users from these countries can register for the xCloud for Android.

Because of COVID-19 and the challenges it poses to the Internet infrastructure, Microsoft will be beginning the preview in each of these new markets with a limited number of people, and adding more participants over time. A very large number of people have come online due to social distancing and related stay-at-home advisories, and this has put the internet infrastructure under a lot of strain. A comfortable and enjoyable game streaming experience requires plenty of bandwidth, so a staggered approach to onboard beta testers is the best move in such times.

Microsoft is on track to launch xCloud later this year, but it also mentioned that not all countries which see a preview will see a definite final launch. Nonetheless, with over 50+ games available, xCloud is in a decent position to compete against the likes of Google Stadia and NVIDIA GeForce NOW.

Have you signed up for Microsoft xCloud preview? Or do you prefer other competing services? Let us know in the comments below!

Story Via: The Verge