Meta and Microsoft today made good on their word to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming and the Game Pass library to Quest. With a subscription to Game Pass Ultimate and a supported gamepad, Quest can now be used to play a wide range of flatscreen games on a giant virtual screen.

The Xbox Cloud Gaming app is now available for Quest 2, Quest 3, and Quest Pro. Now those with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription can log in through their Quest to play the majority of the Game Pass library instantly with no installs required and on a giant virtual screen.

The one caveat is that you can’t use Quest’s own motion controllers, because unfortunately they lack some buttons necessary for Xbox games. You’ll need a supported gamepad, which means one that has enough buttons and a way to connect to your Quest.

Luckily some of the most popular gamepads out there are supported, including all Xbox One S and Xbox One X controllers, PS4 and PS5 controllers, and some later-generation Xbox One controllers. You can find a mostly complete list of additional supported controllers here. Microsoft also recommends an internet connection of at least 20Mbps.

SEE ALSO
New Vision Pro App Brings Faster Typing by Using the iPhone in Your Pocket

While its neat to have a large virtual canvas on which to play Xbox games thanks to Quest, we wonder whether it will really be worth it compared to alternatives.

Xbox Cloud Gaming can already be played on many other devices including computers, smart TVs, and smartphones. Considering the lower resolution that you’d get on Quest compared to most modern TVs, the need to wear something on your head, and the 2–3 hour battery life, it might be more of a novel use-case than it would seem at first glance.

Still, it’s great to have access to a huge new library of games through the headset, even if you might need to buy a separate gamepad.

Image courtesy Meta

For now Microsoft and Meta are calling the Xbox Cloud Gaming app on Quest a ‘beta’ release, though it isn’t entirely clear what changes would be expected to change once the beta moniker is removed.

Newsletter graphic

This article may contain affiliate links. If you click an affiliate link and buy a product we may receive a small commission which helps support the publication. More information.


Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • ViRGiN

    They need to turn it into social space, where you can invite friends, and watch/play together.

    • lordbeavis

      That would be really cool if you could use the meta home environment and have it as a screen

    • Ben Lang

      I’d really love this, seems like the most obvious use-case that actually provides real value you can’t quite get outside of VR

      • VR5

        A big screen is real value though. High resolution is nice but not necessary. Case in point, cinemas only recently upgraded to 4K and it is not the norm yet, meaning most screenings are still 2K.

        Lower resolution also reduces required bandwidth for streaming. For the sake of the environment, lower res on a small screen that looks big is ideal. HMD watching trumps any TV in energy efficiency and most users will just prefer it for the big screen.

        Comfort is a distractor though. Battery life on the other hand is not an issue when connecting a charging cable.

  • lordbeavis

    No matter what controller I use it is not working. At first I tried my Xbox One controller and it would pair with the quest 3 without a problem but did not work at all in the app then I tried updating the firmware after updating the firmware it didn’t pair with the quest 3 at all so I tried my Xbox One x controller same thing it would pair show it was paired when I load the app it would say that there is no controller connected so I tried my PS4 dualshock 4 controller it paired I could move around in the meta menus just fine but when I opened the Xbox app I couldn’t move around and it said I had no controller connected when I went to launch a game

    • Rupert Jung

      Same for the Shield controller. Works on PC and smartphone, but not on Quest.

      • lordbeavis

        I figured it out or at least I got it working I removed all paired controllers shut down the headset restarted it and paired my Xbox One updated controller and it started working immediately I don’t know if the drivers don’t get loaded on the initial install or what but it works now

  • Ender772

    aiming with a controller? no thanks

    • ViRGiN

      Never stopped hundreds of pcvr elitists to shill for praydog for something they haven’t even used.

  • Rupert Jung

    Would also appreciate an official Geforce Now App :)

  • A VR game dev told me he’s not happy because now on Quest his game has not only to compete against the other Quest games, but also against Xbox ones…

    • ViRGiN

      Skill issue. Xbox app is nothing but added value. If he feels threatened by non vr games, yeah, he must have done absolute bottom of the barrel game

  • Arno van Wingerde

    Wow, finally a way to combine the inconvenience of a headset, limited resolution and 2D games… a match made in hell! I cannot possibly see a market for this, unless it is a step toward streamed VR Games.

  • tb

    i cant even login to my xbox account. login page Wong even load on quest 3