Rumor: Nintendo to Add Microsoft’s Game Pass to Switch

There’s talk of a Nintendo and Microsoft partnership that would greatly benefit Switch Users

Microsoft could change the game by bringing their Game Pass library to Nintendo’s switch via a cloud service. That’s what Direct-Feed Games, a YouTube channel with a track record of having reported Nintendo rumors in the past, is saying in a new video, which you can watch below. Microsoft’s main focus for doing is to not only bring their published games to as many pieces of hardware as possible, but it’s also a great way to leverage their upcoming xCloud streaming service.

With the xCloud service, Nintendo’s Switch could stream games directly from the cloud service’s library and run it on the hardware. These games include ones the Switch previously wouldn’t have the capability of running. But because the Switch would sync to the cloud service from the internet, these games should effectively run. This potential partnership would benefit both companies, as Nintendo Switch users would have access to a previously restricted section of games.

Nintendo is well aware of the effectiveness of the Switch’s streaming capabilities as they had a similar service set up in the past. Last May, Capcom Japan announced they were bringing Resident Evil 7 to Switch users in their country. Players had to download a particular application to their Switch to play the game. By doing this, the game took up far less memory on the Switch and could smoothly run on the hardware.

How likely is this partnership to happen? Nintendo and Microsoft had worked together in the past, going as far as to poke fun at Sony when on Twitter as the companies discussed how they could play Fortnite together. At the time, Sony had not opened up cross-play for PS4 users and took significantly longer to make it available.

Additionally, Microsoft has already made its stance clear of wanting to expand its Game Pass as far out as possible. Back in October, the firm shared plans to revamp the service to better fit PC players. Time will tell if the Game Pass will succeed on PC as it did on the Xbox One.

For now, all of these talks remain a rumor. Nothing is concrete, but we’re eagerly waiting to learn the answer.