What You Need to Play Xbox Games on the Go
First, you’ll need an Android phone that’s compatible with the Xbox Game Pass app. This requires Android version 6 and up, so make sure your phone is capable of downloading the app. If it’s compatible, go ahead and download the Xbox Game Pass app to your phone. While it’s downloading, you’ll need to grab an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to play Xbox games in the cloud. If you don’t have one and have never subscribed, you can get your first month for $1, which makes it a great way to test it yourself. Finally, you don’t need a controller to play some of the games on the Xbox Game Pass, but it does help. (Learn how to set up Xbox 360 controller on Android.) Obviously, an Xbox controller will work fine; however, surprisingly enough, Microsoft says the app is compatible with the PlayStation 4 controller, too.
Playing Xbox Games on Your Phone
Now that you’re all set up, it’s time to play games on your phone. Start the app and sign in to your Microsoft account. If you have more than one Microsoft account, make sure you sign in with the one that has an active Game Pass Ultimate subscription on it. Once you’re signed in, tap the home icon at the bottom left to access your library.
Finding Android-Compatible Games
You’ll see all the games available to you on the Xbox Game Pass. However, the Game Pass app is built to combine mobile, Xbox, and PC gaming all in one. That means the games you’ll see on the main page may or may not be compatible with phone streaming. To filter the games to only show the ones you can play on Android, find the middle bar that reads “Cloud,” “Console,” and “PC.” If “Cloud” isn’t highlighted in green, tap on it. The library should shift to display different games. All the games you see here are compatible with Android, which makes it easier to find something to play. Once you find something interesting, tap on it. You’ll see the game page and some options available to you. Sometimes you’ll see two options: “Play” and “Install.” If you want to play the game on your mobile, don’t tap on “Install.” This button is for the remote installation of the game on an Xbox console or a PC. Instead, tap “Play;” this will load the game in the cloud instead. If you go to play a game and only see the “Install” button, that means the game cannot be streamed to mobile at this time.
Playing a Compatible Game on Android
Once you tap “Play,” you’ll see a green spaceship while the cloud loads your game. Once it’s finished loading, your game should appear on the screen! Here, you can either use touch controls to play the game or attach a controller with Bluetooth to play. On the game screen, you’ll see three floating buttons at the top left. The three dots open the settings menu, which you can use to mute your microphone or close the game. The antenna signal gives you advice on improving your connection if things get spotty. The Xbox logo mimics the Xbox button on the controller when you tap it. Once you’ve booted up a game once, it’ll appear on the “Jump back in” section on the main menu. When you feel like playing some more, tap the game to immediately jump into it again.
Gaming on the Go
If you are not keen on getting the next-gen gaming console but instead wanted to go for cloud gaming and stream games on Android, Microsoft has now made it very easy for you to play Xbox games on the go. Try it out and see if it works for you.
