The Project xCloud beta will roll out in Australia next week

When Phil Spencer hinted at a 2021 Australian rollout for Microsoft's xCloud streaming service, it seemed a little optimistic. But here's a surprise: the xCloud beta is actually coming to Australia in 2020, and better still, it's coming next week.

On November 18, registered users can begin testing the service on Android phones and tablets via the Xbox Game Streaming app, which is available on Google Play. Registrations are open today here—you'll need a Microsoft account.

In addition to Australia, November 18 will also see the Project xCloud beta roll out in Brazil, Japan and Mexico. That's ahead of an expected 2021 official launch for the service, which will be bundled with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Other streaming services, such as Google Stadia and PlayStation Now, aren't available in Australia. The country's dire internet infrastructure can probably be blamed for that, and it seems likely that most Australians, particularly in regional areas, won't have a great experience using xCloud. Still: that's what the beta is for, and this will be a nice testing of the waters to see if cloud gaming can work down under.

Here are the games available during the beta, with more expected to arrive down the line:

·        ARK: Survival Evolved (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Batman™: Arkham Knight (AU, BR, MX)

·        Black Desert (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        CODE VEIN (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Cricket 19 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        DayZ (AU)

·        Dead by Daylight: Special Edition (AU, BR, MX)

·        Destiny 2 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Devil May Cry 5 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        eFootball PES 2020 (AU, BR, MX)

·        F1® 2019 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Forza Horizon 4 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Gears 5 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Gunvolt Chronicles: Luminous Avenger Ix (JP)

·        Halo Wars 2: Standard Edition (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Halo: The Master Chief Collection (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice (AU, BR, MX)

·        HITMAN™ (AU, BR, MX)

·        Just Cause 4 (AU, BR, MX)

·        Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition (JP)

·        Minecraft Dungeons - Windows 10 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Mitsurugi Kamui Hikae (JP)

·        Ori and the Will of the Wisps (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        ReCore (JP)

·        RESIDENT EVIL 7 biohazard (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Sea of Thieves (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Shadow of the Tomb Raider (AU, BR, MX)

·        Sid Meier's Civilization VI (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Skyforge (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Smite (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Stellaris: Console Edition (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Tekken 7 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        WWE 2K20 (AU, BR, MX, JP)

·        Yakuza 0 (AU, BR, MX, JP)