This is the cheapest way to play Xbox Game Pass, but there’s a catch

It was only a few weeks ago when I gave cloud gaming an earnest shot. For a full week, I resolved to replace my Xbox with a Samsung smart TV equipped with Xbox Game Pass. I’d only stream my Xbox games through the cloud during the time, even playing the entirety of Still Wakes the Deep that way. It went much better than expected. Sure, the image quality wasn’t tip-top, but it ran smoothly enough that I could picture integrating a Game Pass-enabled smart TV in a home setup with multiple TVs.

That experiment just so happened to line up with another significant push in Xbox’s platform expansion. Game Pass is now available on select Amazon Fire TV streaming sticks. That means you don’t need a console or even a specific smart TV to enjoy Game Pass on a big screen; all you need is a very portable and relatively inexpensive stick.

If that sounds too good to be true, well, it is and isn’t. As is generally the case with cloud game streaming, you’re in for a mixed experience that’s partially dependent on your internet speed. If you’ve got a good connection, you may find that Fire sticks sufficiently fulfill the dream of the Microsoft’s canceled Keystone project. That comes with one serious concession based on my tests — and that might leave you praying for a proper Xbox handheld instead.

Lagging behind

When I tested Xbox Game Pass on my Samsung TV, I just so happened to center my experience around slower-paced games. Those worked great, but I wanted to push the Game Pass app to its limits this time on Fire TV. This time, I’d test out more intensive games. That included a three-game gauntlet built to put cloud streaming through its paces: Doom (2016), Celeste, and Forza Motorsport. The end results were much more varied than my last go-around with the tech.

I’ll start with the most impressive experience.Forza Motorsport is the kind of game that feels custom-made for cloud streaming. What’s most clear out the gate is how well its impressive visuals hold up over a stream. The