Microsoft announces free streaming of Xbox One games to Windows 10

The total sales of video game consoles for June in the USA have been released and they show that PS4 remains in the lead but Xbox One sales were up more than 50% compared to the same month previous year. While gamers will love the ability to stream games from their Xbox One to Windows PC, it needs to be simple to be successful. Enable the option that says “Allow game streaming to other devices“.

Since Xbox One runs Windows, it makes it easy to interface with PCs running Windows 10. During game streaming, the Xbox One console will appear “in use” as though the person streaming was in the room. Not only did the Xbox One receive highly sought-after third-party, multi-platform games like Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag and Far Cry 4, but it’s also home to a handful of excellent exclusives like D4 and Sunset Overdrive.

Xbox One users will have something to look forward to with the launch of the Windows 10. If a game is not automatically added, users can manually add it to a collection by selecting My games > Add a game from your PC. I imagine the streaming between PC and Xbox One games will be enticing for people who want to play games where they had trouble running to spec on the Xbox One, like Dead Rising 3 or games like Project CARS. Gamers will also be able to upload game clips and screen shots from Windows Store games to Xbox Live.

Xbox avatars. The Avatars app is being updated so you can take a virtual photo of your avatar and use that as your gamerpic. Alongside a host of other features which will become available on July 29, the new streaming service is for all intents and purposes a revamped version of Xbox Music, which will be getting the axe come the end of the month.

Why this matters: There’s two ways of looking at this: On the one hand, it ties Microsoft’s ecosystem together, giving bonuses for owning various sets of Microsoft gear, including the Xbox One and a Windows 10 PC.

Microsoft has also created a fresh onboarding experience to help new users sign up, customize their profile and start finding games.

Microsoft said Xbox app should automatically update via the Windows Store, but you’ll need to go into the Settings menu of the Xbox app and ensure you have version 7.7.16004.00000 or higher.