Since 2020 Microsoft has been making changes to its gaming division that culminated in an uproar earlier this year from its community who believe the company is planning to retire the Xbox gaming console. Well, the latest development is that Xbox games can now be played on Amazon Fire TV Stick.
In a new commercial titled “No Xbox? Have no fear with Amazon Fire TV Stick”, the company noted that starting from July 8, 2024, anyone with Amazon Fire TV Stick can play Xbox. The games will be streamed to the TV with Game Pass Ultimate via cloud gaming. The only accessory that the player would need is an Xbox controller.
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However, there is a caveat here that many bloggers failed to mention. To be eligible to enjoy this service, you must be using the Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K (2023) or the Fire TV Stick 4K Max (2023) devices. The feature may not be available in earlier versions of Amazon Fire TV Stick.
At the moment, gamers can play Xbox games on Samsung Smart TVs (those made in 2020 and later) and Amazon Fire TV Stick (2023). In addition to needing a Game Pass Ultimate membership and a controller, the player will also need a high-speed internet connection (wired or 5Ghz Wi-Fi connection with 20Mbps download speed).
To play games on Fire TV devices, you need to first install the Xbox app on the device. After launching the device, sign into your Microsoft account. If you don’t already have Game Pass Ultimate, subscribe and connect a compatible controller (Xbox Wireless Controller, DualSense, or Amazon Luna pad). It is that simple according to Microsoft.
“Over the past several years, we have been on a journey to deliver cloud gaming to more devices and to more people around the globe,” corporate vice president of Xbox experiences and platforms engineering Ashley McKissick said last month. “We are excited to add Fire TV to our growing family of cloud gaming devices and eager to welcome new players into this experience.”
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While Xbox executives have maintained that Xbox consoles will not go away and that the next installment in its console generation will be a technological leap, developments like this one will continue to create anxiety among its dedicated gaming community.
The plan to bring Xbox games to streaming sticks goes back to 2020
Although Microsoft announced the ability to play games on Fire TV a few days ago, the plan was conceived many years ago. Phil Spencer started talking about the idea of bundling xCloud with steaming sticks as far back as October 2020.
“I think you’re going to see lower priced hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think about streaming sticks and other things that somebody might want to just go plug into their TV and go play via xCloud,” Spencer said at that time during an interview with Stratechery.
“You could imagine us even having something that we just included in the Game Pass subscription that gave you an ability to stream xCloud games to your television and buying the controller.”
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In 2022, Microsoft rolled out the Xbox app on Samsung Smart TVs, allowing gamers to play games on Samsung TVs without a console. The requirements are pretty much the same as those of the Amazon Fire TV Stick. Microsoft at that time said it was exploring partnerships with other TV makers.
“We’re super excited by what this next step means for all you gamers out there,” it said in a statement at that time. “With this rollout, we’re making it easier than ever to play games on the devices you already own.”
