How to Play Xbox One Games on PC
Though you might buy an Xbox One and play on it fairly regularly, you’re no longer tethered to playing on your home console if you’ve got a PC. There are a few ways that players can use to play their Xbox One games on their PC. Here’s what you need to know about each of the different methods you can try.
How to Play Xbox One Games on PC via Xbox Play Anywhere
When it comes to playing Xbox One games on your PC, Microsoft offers some great solutions. First to mention is the Xbox Play Anywhere program. Since 2016, Microsoft has been offering the service that allows gamers to purchase and play a number of their digitally downloaded games on both their Xbox One and Windows 10 PC. Any game that is part of this program will state that it is available on Xbox One and PC in the game’s info page in the Xbox store.
You don’t actually need to own an Xbox One to play these games, as they can be purchased straight from the Store app on your PC. To play these games on your PC, it is as simple as opening the Xbox app, selecting the My Games tab and downloading/launching them from there. As long as your PC is powerful enough to play the Xbox One game, you should be good to go. All of your saves are cross compatible as well, meaning that you can go back and forth between your console and PC and retain all of your progress. A list of Xbox Play Anywhere games can be found here.
How to Play Xbox One Games on PC via Game Streaming
But what about your games that aren’t part of the Xbox Play Anywhere program? You can still play them on your PC remotely using game streaming. Game streaming is a feature that allows you to use your home network to remotely access your console from your PC. Basically, if both your Xbox One and PC are hooked up to the same wireless router, you can stream games from your Xbox One to your PC. It is recommended that both your PC and Xbox One are connected to your home network via ethernet cables to ensure the smoothest connection; it is possible to use a wireless connection, but the performance may not be as steady.
Firstly, there are some settings that you’ll have to enable on your Xbox One. Press the Xbox guide button on your controller (the button in the center of the controller with the ‘x’ on it), scroll over to the gear symbol to select Settings, then Preferences > Xbox app connections. Under ‘This Xbox’ select ‘Allow game streaming to other devices.’ Under ‘Other Devices’ select ‘Allow connections from any device’ or ‘Only profiles signed in from this Xbox.’
Now you need to establish a connection between your Xbox One and your PC. To do this, launch the Xbox app on your PC. On the left-hand side, second from the bottom, select the Connection tab (it will have a little icon that looks like an Xbox One console). Select the name of your console from the list (if you haven’t renamed your system, it will be called “MyXboxOne”). Once the connection has been established, new options will appear on the screen. To begin streaming from your console remotely, just click the Stream option. You can also launch a game directly from within the Xbox app. When selecting an Xbox One game from the My Games tab, there will now be an option to ‘Play from console.’ This will immediately launch the game on your console and begin streaming it on your PC. If you experience any stuttering while playing these games via game streaming on your PC, lowering the video encoding level may help improve performance. To find this option in the Xbox app, go to the Connection tab > Game streaming > Quality.
It should also be noted that in order to use your controller, you will need one of the following: a Bluetooth enabled PC; an Xbox One USB cable, which comes with the Play & Charge Kit; or an Xbox Wireless Adapter.
For more handy tips on getting the most out of your consoles, be sure to search for Twinfinite.
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