Gone are the days when you need to be tethered to your TV or computer to play your favorite games. With Xbox Cloud Gaming, you can stream them on almost any device anywhere you are. Mobile gaming is often improved with a handful of accessories, and we’ve rounded up the best Xbox Cloud Gaming controllers and accessories you can use to enhance your experience.
Xbox Cloud Gaming, formerly Project xCloud, lets you play a subset of Xbox Game Pass games on a device other than a console by streaming them from the cloud. It’s similar to Google Stadia (RIP) and Nvidia GeForce Now. To use it, you need to be an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, which costs $15 a month or $160 annually (with four three-month membership codes). For Windows PCs, it lets you play games your system might not otherwise have the power or space to run locally via Game Pass for PC. Navigate to Xbox Game Pass games on your console and look for games with a cloud icon, then click the «play» button.
I’m not here to review Xbox Cloud Gaming, which requires a fast internet connection for smooth game streaming. Rather, I’m highlighting the best controllers and accessories to use with supported devices. As you might expect, the various iterations of Xbox controllers are your primary options, but there are plenty of other controllers and accessories to choose from and some are designed exclusively for Android phones, Windows PC and iOS devices.
Microsoft maintains a list of supported controllers, but you’ll find others that work. Initially, Microsoft said that if you’re using a web browser to play cloud games, the Xbox Wireless Controller was the only «officially supported controller.» However, most controllers I’ve tried — and every controller on this list — works for cloud gaming on a browser.
If you’re an Apple user, you simply go to and then sign in to the Microsoft account linked to your Xbox Game Pass, then tap the share button at the bottom of the screen and select Add to Home Screen. Android users can download the Xbox Game Pass app from the Google Play Store or Samsung Galaxy Store (Samsung devices only).
I’ll update this list as more Xbox Cloud Gaming controllers and accessories are released, and we test additional products.