Microsoft has now officially confirmed that Xbox cloud gaming will be coming to iOS in 2021. In a new blog post, the company explained that cloud gaming will be available as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in spring 2021 via the web browser in iOS.
Rumors that Xbox cloud gaming would be available via Safari in iOS were first documented in October. The company decided to do this due to the App Store guidelines. This option allows Apple to circumvent its strict and partly anti-competitive rules. evade. So is called it in the blog post:
Xbox cloud gaming: Microsoft, Amazon and Google follow the same path
Expanding Xbox to new players is central to our commitment to help games and developers find an easy path to the world's 3 billion gamers. We do this by spanning multiple devices and providing a unified Xbox experience wherever you log in, whether that's on your Xbox Series X|S, PC, Xbox One, Android device, or—coming spring 2021—on your Windows PC and iOS device from the cloud.
Microsoft points out that cloud gaming on iOS via the web will technically be a "beta" at first. Accordingly, there will also be some differences. Apple changed the App Store guidelines this year that deal with game streaming services. The guidelines state that streaming game services are now allowed. However, developers must make each game available in the App Store individually - but that is not the point of such a model. In addition to Microsoft, Amazon and Google will also take the same path with their Luna and Stadia services.