Xbox Console Streaming is now available for all Xbox Insiders (and that could be you)

Update, January 17: Xbox Console Streaming is now available for all members of the Xbox Insider Program. Since all you have to do to become an Insider is download the Xbox Insider Hub app on your system, that means anybody (in supported regions) can start streaming games from their Xbox to their Android phone right now.

It is still a pre-release version, so you shouldn't expect Xbox Console Streaming to work perfectly yet. Until then, Microsoft says it's eager to get "even more feedback from a broader set of players in a wider variety of environments from all over the world."

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Currently the Xbox Console Streaming feature is available to test if you're an Xbox Insider in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings in the UK and US with a device that runs Android 6.0 or higher and Bluetooth 4.0. You also have to download the Xbox Game Streaming app. If you are an Insider, you can play any of your owned and installed Xbox One games - including any titles from your Xbox Game Pass subscription - on an Android phone or tablet remotely from your console.

Principal Program Manager Jonathan Hildebrandt announced the news in a post on Xbox's official website. "This preview is an important step in our journey to deliver game streaming to Xbox players around the world," Hildebrandt wrote. "We'll work closely with you and the Insider community to gather feedback that will shape and define future iterations of Xbox Console Streaming."

The console streaming preview is not to be confused with Microsoft's cloud-based streaming service Project xCloud that was officially announced back in September. To clarify, the Xbox Game Streaming preview is testing two different ways to stream your games, with the Xbox Console Streaming feature preview testing streaming games from your console, while the Project xCloud preview tests streaming Xbox games via the cloud.

You can currently sign up to take part in Project xCloud, which appears to be available to preview for those who have already registered, with a tweet surfacing of someone playing a game via the cloud who doesn't own an Xbox. The cloud streaming service lets you try out a selection of games including Sea of Thieves, Gears 5, Killer Instinct and Halo 5: Guardians.

Loaded up Xbox Game Streaming on my Note 10+ and it works a lot better than I expected. There's a noticeable input delay but the video and sound quality is solid and playing something that looks like this on my phone is pretty cool. I don't even have an Xbox =P pic.twitter.com/UjKsVV6CFyOctober 30, 2019

Currently you won't be able to test out any backwards compatible games in your library, and while you can only test out the feature if you're in the US or UK, Microsoft hopes to expand the preview to more regions in the future.

Want to know more about Microsofts next-gen console? Here's our roundup of everything we know so far about Xbox Project Scarlett.

Heather Wald is the Evergreen Editor, Games at GamesRadar+. Her writing career began on a student-led magazine at Bath Spa University, where she earned a BA (Hons) in English literature. Heather landed her first role writing about tech and games for Stuff Magazine shortly after graduating with an MA in magazine journalism at Cardiff University. Now with almost seven years of experience working with GamesRadar+ on the features team, Heather helps to develop, maintain, and expand the evergreen features that exist on the site for games, as well as spearhead the Indie Spotlight series. You'll also see her contribute op-eds, interview-led features, and more. In her spare time, you'll likely find Heather tucking into RPGs and indie games, reading romance novels, and drinking lots of tea.