Amazon and Xbox have announced that Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service will be heading to Amazon’s Fire TV Sticks in July 2024. In a move that seems unexpected, but fits in Xbox’s plan to be everywhere, now Amazon will join Samsung and will let anyone with the newer Amazon Fire TV 4K or Fire TV 4K Max set-top boxes play games via Xbox Game Pass.
What’s interesting about this is the rumor that Xbox was working on a dongle that would allow gamers to play Xbox games on multiple TVs. Seemingly that idea was scrapped, but the Fire TV seems like the perfect replacement.
According to Xbox, connecting the Fire TV and Game Pass is super easy, which makes this even better.
- Simply install and launch the Xbox app from your Fire TV device.
- Sign in with your Microsoft account to play. If you’re an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member, you’ll have instant access to hundreds of cloud-enabled games.
- Not a member? No worries! You can join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for one low monthly price, or check out Fortnite without a membership.
- Connect a Bluetooth-enabled wireless controller. Controllers like the Xbox Wireless Controller, Xbox Adaptive Controller, PlayStation DualSense, or DualShock 4 controller are all compatible.
- Start Playing!
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Why go this route instead of an actual Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S? Well, it’s cheaper, for starters. And for those who aren’t constantly gaming or don’t mind some compromises, this is perfect. Not only will people who go this route save some cash, but they’ll still get access to the vast library of games on Xbox Game Pass. Plus, as a bonus, you can use various other Bluetooth-enabled controllers, such as the PlayStation 5 DualSense controller, which is my preferred weapon.
Even better is that with this, you won’t need to own a Samsung TV, nor worry about lugging around an Xbox console when you go on a trip or if you want to play in your living room or another place in your home, while your console is in your gaming room. As someone who has a number of trips planned for 2024 and beyond, this is perfect – Assuming that the internet (wifi) doesn’t stink.
The downside to this all is that if you already have a Fire TV and it’s not only one of the newer ones, you’ll have to go out and get one of those. Or if you have a Fire TV-enabled device, you won’t be able to take advantage of this. Then there’s the fact that this is strictly for Xbox Game Pass, which is an extra cost added to this.
As for how it performs, there wasn’t any mention of it, but not to worry as I plan on doing some testing of my own. Your internet connection and Wi-fi is going to be a big concern when it comes to cloud gaming. Be sure to come back in a few days and I’ll have my impressions of how Xbox Game Pass performs on the Fire TV 4K devices.
If this all goes well, I hope that Xbox eventually moves on to the other TV brands out there, especially LG. There’s a bunch of smart TVs out there and the last thing people want to do is connect another smart device to that TV. Or maybe they won’t care. We’ll have to wait and see.
Source: Xbox Wire blog
