Download-free demos via xCloud is (somewhere) on Xbox's to-do list

Xbox’s xCloud comes with the same sort of low-friction gaming promise that other cloud-based platforms like Stadia have flaunted, but, thanks to Xbox's range of platforms that same technology opens up some unique opportunities for Xbox and devs with games attached to its services.

In a quick exchange on Twitter, Xbox head Phil Spencer weighed in on one community requested xCloud feature: cloud-based game demos on PC or Xbox systems.

The pitch, as posed by journalist Ben Gilbert on Twitter, is that xCloud could be used to host game demos on consoles and PC. This in turn would make it easier for players to try out a game they’re interested in without needing to wait for a download or free up hard drive space to make room for a demo.

Spencer says that it is something the team is thinking about, but it isn’t something at the top of the xCloud to do list quite yet.

“It's in the long list of cool things the xCloud team is working on,” tweeted Spencer. “Just a bit further down the list. But we want console and PC players to be able to browse as easily as mobile players, it's a good GamePass feature.”