Xbox's cloud gaming service will soon have a retro fever.
Retro video game streaming platform Antstream Arcade recently announced it is bringing over 1,300 retro games to the Xbox cloud gaming service, allowing players to play classic games without ever downloading them to their console.
Antstream Arcae now allows Xbox players to pre-order the entire 1,300 retro game pack it is bringing to Xbox.
Antstream Arcade Retro Cloud Gaming Service Details
Retro games are difficult to find, much less have. According to the Video Game History Foundation, accessing and playing retro video games require people to maintain vintage collectible games and hardware, travel across the country to visit a library, or get a pirated copy of one.
However, there are some video game distributors willing to make retro games available to people in the 2020s, and Antstream Arcade is one of them. According to an Engadget report, the retro game distributor is offering over 1,300 retro games (1,470 in actuality, per its official website) on Xbox One and Series X|S through cloud gaming.
As a result, Antstream Arcade will be the first third-party game streaming service on Xbox. Xbox gamers who wish to play classic games such as Space Invaders, the original Mortal Kombat, and even Pacman, can do so without downloading them to their console.
However, it's not just the retro games Xbox players can look forward to. Antstream Arcade's unique technology allows gamers to create new minigame challenges for new and returning players.
As such, gamers can look forward to playing a modified Pacman map that requires players to avoid collecting dots. Gamers can also enter world tournaments, do daily challenges, and go against each other through offline co-op to compete for the highest score.
Most importantly, gamers can save their progress at any point and pick up where they left off anytime with up to four save slots to utilize.
If gamers can't find the retro game they're looking for, Antstream Aracade might include it along with the retro games it adds to its catalog every month, per the distributor's Xbox webpage.
Antstream Aracde Xbox Pre-order Details
While Antstream Arcade didn't mention when its retro game catalog will become available for purchase, a quick look at its official webpage on Xbox shows that it is now available for pre-order for $29.99 annually.
However, the $30 price is only for the standard edition. Gamers can choose to get the Lifetime Pass Edition to avoid paying for annual access for an additional $50, bringing the price up to $79.99.
The company assures gamers that future additions to its catalog are included in their purchase regardless of which edition they wish to get.
Should gamers feel impatient enough, they could get Antstream Arcade's offering as a native app on Android, Windows, Samsung smart TVs, and select VR headsets. While the distributor's offerings are accessible to iOS and Mac devices, gamers will need to use a web browser to do so.
