You’ll Soon Be Able to Stream Xbox Games to Fire TV Stick
Your TV can stream movies and shows, so why not video games? That’s exactly the problem Xbox wants to solve with its new Fire TV Stick app, which will allow players to stream Xbox Game Pass cloud games without a console.
Technically, this isn’t the first time Xbox has made its way to TVs, as the Xbox TV app previously premiered on select Samsung Smart TV models in 2022 . But the addition of Fire TV Stick compatibility means that any TV with an HDMI port can now become an Xbox in some sense.
To get started, gamers will need a Fire TV Stick 4K or Fire TV Stick 4K Max . The latter has a slightly more powerful processor and supports the new Wi-Fi 6E standard, but both will work with the Xbox app. Otherwise, you’ll just need a Bluetooth-compatible controller (it doesn’t have to be an Xbox controller) and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Oddly enough, the Xbox app is currently only available for these two Fire TV Stick models, with no stated support for the Fire TVs themselves.
There are some caveats, the most obvious being that the service is launching in just 25 countries. According to a post on the Xbox blog , it won’t be available until July, so neither Xbox nor Amazon have yet confirmed which countries it will be available in.
The second problem is that cloud streaming has some limitations and is technically still in beta for Xbox games. Casual access to single-player content should be fine, but your performance in multiplayer games may be impacted by input lag. You may also notice some artifacts or quality issues when streaming from a remote server, as the video will be compressed before it gets to you.
Keep in mind that the Fire TV Stick won’t actually run your games, but will instead send your input to a server, where you’ll have to wait for it to process and send the video back to your TV. This all happens in less than a second, but even that minute delay can make the game less responsive, especially if you’re having trouble with Wi-Fi.
You also won’t be able to play games that aren’t included in Game Pass, and you’ll need to renew your subscription for all games except Fortnite . Some games also don’t yet support cloud gaming, even if it’s included in your Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
If you want to try out Xbox cloud gaming before July but don’t have a Samsung TV yet, don’t worry. All Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can now stream games to their browser , iPhone/iPad , Android phone , or even Xbox system.