In its continued efforts to bring the Xbox experience to as many different screens as possible, Microsoft is expanding the brand’s reach to even more devices as part of the August update.
This new update brings Xbox Cloud Gaming to more Amazon Fire TV devices and improvements to the Xbox Dashboard on console and Xbox App on PC.
Spreading out
Microsoft first brought the Xbox Cloud Gaming and Xbox Game Pass services to Amazon Fire TV devices just a few months ago. That initial rollout aimed at newer, more powerful devices. Both services can now be used on older devices: the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (1st Gen) and Fire TV Cube (3rd Gen.) Even older devices are still left out of the bunch for the time being, this is still a move in the right direction in terms of opening the floodgates a little wider to allow more consumers to benefit.
An Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription is required to access Xbox Cloud Gaming content, which is currently USD 19.99 per month.
Once connected, players can use any Bluetooth controller of their choosing, whether it be one from Xbox or even a PlayStation DualSense or DualShock.
Over on home turf
Over in actual Microsoft Land where Xbox is expected to reside, there have been more upgrades. Discord integration has been improved on Xbox consoles; users can now watch streams directly on their console. Of course, streams can be started from the console, too.
Discoverability is now easier for both friends and channels. Xbox users simply need to link their Discord and Xbox accounts, and then friends and channels on Discord will be automatically added to their Xbox system.
Another improvement that Xbox console owners can now enjoy (alongside PC players) is more control over game installs.
Users will now be prompted to what components of a game they’d like to install; this applies to PC users if they’re grabbing a game via the Xbox App. This flexibility will allow players to save space by downloading only the parts of the game they want. For example, the campaign and multiplayer components of a game can be installed independently from one another. It’ll be interesting to see how this applies on a game-to-game basis.
One more minor, but still notable part of the August update involves improvements to Xbox controllers. Emulating Windows Sticky Key functionality, “Toggle Hold” is a new feature coming to the Xbox Elite Wireless Controller Series 2 and Xbox Adaptive Controller. With this, users will now be able to hold down a button after pressing it just once.
In a similar interest of time-saving, Xbox users will be able to easily turn off their console via a new shortcut on the Xbox Accessories app.
These new additions and improvements of the Xbox August update are rolling out to all compatible devices.
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