Gaming remotely through the cloud has been a revelation for those who don’t have access to such hardware locally. Xbox Cloud Gaming is such a service, providing paid subscribers with the ability to stream Xbox titles through their web browser. The experience you get out of the box is what I would describe as good enough, but can be made better with the help of a few tweaks. Better xCloud is a browser plugin that can help you do exactly that, and it’s a must-have.

Easy installation

Get up and running quickly, no matter which platform

If you’re gaming within a web browser, it’s recommended you use Edge or Chrome, as these provide the best compatibility. Better xCloud is a script ran through Tampermonkey, a Chromium extension. Full instructions to install are available on the Better xCloud Github page, but it’s quite simple and quick. Just install Tampermonkey, install the script, and you're good to go.

Better xCloud is also compatible with most Android devices with the use of its dedicated app, which is currently in beta. It even works on Safari across macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, and it's also available for LG webOS TVs.

Finer control that isn’t available by default

Better xCloud provides all the tweaks and settings a power user would want

Once installed, Better xCloud allows you to control essentially all aspects of the stream. Video bitrate, filters, controller polling rate, server selection, and more. The most useful setting I found was definitely the video quality settings. During gameplay, I found that the 1080p stream wasn’t very clear on my 27 inch 1440p display, which was to be expected. After maxing out the bitrate, and applying some sharpness filters, the games are noticeably clearer. These settings are also handy if your connection is less than ideal, allowing you to turn down some network-intensive parts of the stream.

But is it safe?

Most settings can be used without concern

These settings are awesome for anyone who often play games through xCloud, but are they safe to use? As always, you use browser plugins at your own risk, but Better xCloud is completely open-source, with the contents of the script being available on it's GitHub page.

To quell any additional worries you may have, an employee for Microsoft stated in a thread on r/xCloud that they company doesn't ban users for using third-party clients or extensions. As far as the fairly benign tweaks go, you're completely in the clear. There are a couple that ride the line, such as the ability to emulate controller input from a mouse and keyboard, which could be considered cheating. Better xCloud does warn you of this before turning it on, however.

A no-brainer for those who use xCloud

Better xCloud has settings that allow power users to customize their experience to their liking. It's safe, easy to install, and shares most of the compatibility list with that of xCloud itself. The list of devices you can game on reliably continues to increase, and plugins like this are a great way to make the experience more palatable.