'This is an Xbox', Microsoft claims over an image of a car that will soon offer cloud game streaming

Xbox is really getting around these days. Microsoft seems to be shoving the gaming platform onto all manner of things... handhelds, the cloud, Windows PCs... and now even cars, of all things.

Not any and every car, though, just "select internet-connected vehicles" with some LG smart TVs in them. Xbox says: "With the Xbox built into LG’s webOS Automotive Content Platform (ACP), passengers in internet-connected vehicles will be able to stream and play games directly from the Xbox app."

This Is an Xbox That Goes Vroom - YouTube

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ACP is part of PlayWare, a "suite of in-cabin entertainment solutions" that will now apparently include Xbox game streaming. So, if you're lucky enough to have a vehicle with smart TVs hooked up on the backs of seats and whatnot, then—passengers only!—you'll be able to play Xbox Game Pass games.

You might even be able to stream non-Game Pass console games that you own, if you're a Game Pass Ultimate member and Xbox Insider on the PC Gaming Preview, assuming that July update applies here. Don't hold me to that, though, it's not terribly clear.

What is clear is that Microsoft is keen on pushing its Xbox services as a whole multi-platform package, including streaming. Game Pass gets linked to Cloud Gaming, and Cloud Gaming is being pushed left, right, and centre. We've seen Microsoft advertise games as not just PC/Xbox console/Game Pass games but also as Xbox Cloud games, with the latter as a bona fide category alongside the others.

Then of course there's the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X and their default 'Full Screen Experience' mode that can tap into Game Pass and Xbox Cloud gaming. Xbox is looking to be a big, integrated platform more than anything, with game streaming forming a part of that.

So I suppose why not add cars into the mix? I must admit, sitting in the back of the car as a child on those long journeys to see relatives up north might have been a little more fun if I'd had the option back then. Then again, I'd have missed all the real world passing me by out the window, and sometimes it's nice to keep it real, y'know?

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