Xbox and TCL Team Up: Stream Games Without a Console, But There's a Catch

Xbox partners with TCL to put its app on select TVs, letting you stream games without a console—but monthly cloud play hours are limited and top-ups cost extra.

Ever wished you could play Xbox games without shelling out for a console? Well, Xbox just made that a reality for some TV owners—but it's not all good news.

Xbox has announced a new partnership with TCL that brings the Xbox app to select TCL TVs. This means if you own one of those sets, you can ditch the idea of spending $500 on an Xbox Series S or $800 on an Xbox Series X. Instead, you can dive into cloud gaming with just a Game Pass subscription and an Xbox controller.

Sounds awesome, right? But here's the kicker: you'll only get a few hours of cloud streaming each month, depending on your Game Pass tier. The cheapest plan, Game Pass Essential, gives you just five hours. Game Pass Premium bumps that to 10 hours, and Game Pass Ultimate tops out at 15 hours. And if you want more playtime? You'll have to pay extra for top-up packages, though pricing hasn't been announced yet.

This partnership couldn't come at a more awkward time for Xbox. The brand is gearing up for its next big first-party title, Gears of War: E-Day, after a year that saw 75 day-one releases through Game Pass. And September is shaping up to be busy too, with Speedrunners 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War leading the new arrivals. Adding a cloud streaming option might seem like a distraction, but it could actually be a smart move.

TCL TVs are known for being budget-friendly to mid-range, which means this could put Xbox in front of millions of people who'd never consider buying a console. And with Microsoft's Azure servers—the backbone of Xbox cloud streaming—already raking in $29.4 billion in quarterly sales, it's clear the infrastructure is there to support this push.

So, will you be taking advantage of this if you own a TCL TV? Or does the limited monthly hours and potential extra costs make you think twice? Let us know in the comments!