Xbox Cloud Gaming is getting monthly time limits, and you'll be able to pay for more

Microsoft is implementing monthly time limits for Xbox Cloud Gaming in November, alongside new methods for customers to pay more. The company's efforts to make Xbox services more affordable clash with rising component and operating costs. Xbox Cloud Gaming subscribers will receive five hours of cloud streaming per month for the Essential tier, 10 for Premium, and 15 for Ultimate.

Non-subscribers will be able to buy additional streaming hours to play games they own. Microsoft estimates that the new restrictions will affect around 4% of Game Pass subscribers, indicating that most users stream games for short sessions to complement offline gaming. The primary reason cited for the change is the rising cost of maintaining streaming infrastructure, as more users are streaming games for longer durations.

Microsoft's competitor, GeForce Now, caps paid subscribers at 100 hours of streaming per month, which is far more generous than Xbox's new tiers. The move comes after Microsoft significantly reduced subscription costs last year, admitting that the price hike cost it millions of subscribers. Microsoft is also testing a free plan with ads preceding one-hour game sessions of titles users own.

The new restrictions suggest that the company is still trying to limit costs while growing its audience. The company attributes the decision to rising streaming infrastructure costs, but it may also be exploring new ways to monetize users as rising memory costs lead to steep hardware price hikes.