The Atari VCS hasn't been available for six months and already Atari is looking to spread the console's wings. How? Well, Xbox Game Pass—among other cloud gaming services—might soon hit VCS home screens everywhere...
Is Xbox Game Pass Coming to the Atari VCS?
According to Atari's financial report for 2020/2021, the brand is looking to expand the capabilities of the Atari VCS in terms of what games are available on the console. It already has its own modest collection of games, with more currently in development, plus you can access a vast selection of retro gaming fodder via Antstream Arcade.
However, cloud gaming could be coming to the VCS with direct access from the console. The financial report says that, in the coming months, Atari will work on building out the content it offers on the VCS console, including "cloud game streaming with direct access to popular services like Stadia, GeForce Now, Luna and Xbox".
So, not only could we soon see Xbox Game Pass officially landing on the console, but a heap of other cloud gaming services, too.
When Is Xbox Game Pass Coming to the Atari VCS?
Right now, we don't have a specific date for the arrival of Xbox Game Pass, or any of the other game streaming services, for that matter. While you should (theoretically) be able to access browser versions of these cloud platforms via the VCS' native Crome browser, there is currently no "direct access" to them, i.e. there is no dedicated, native app on the VCS that launches Xbox Game Pass (for example) as you would find on an Android phone or on your PC.
However, this is still major news. If the Atari VCS does indeed get Xbox Game Pass, alongside the above, then that really opens the console up to be something that appeals to a significantly wider customer base. Particularly as it has PC capabilities, too.
This might be conjecture, but the Atari VCS Modern Controller has Xbox mode, to emulate an Xbox One controller, so I'll leave you to do the math here...
Is Atari Bringing Anything Else to the VCS Console?
Actually, according to the financial report linked above, yes, Atari will bring much more to the VCS.
These plans include direct, from-console access to G-Suite apps like Docs, Sheets, and so on. Atari is also planning native emulation (which Atari exclusively told us would be the case back in January 2021) of DOS PC games.
Have You Got Your Atari VCS Yet?
If not, why not? With exciting developments in the pipeline, the Atari VCS could well achieve COO Michael Arzt's vision of cornering the "living-room PC" market. Here's hoping!
