While the Surface Duo is a device that you either love or rarely think about, there is one thing that has always been a bit befuddling with the hardware – its support for Xbox Cloud Gaming. The device, which is the company’s first foray into the truly mobile segment in many years, does not have robust support for Microsoft’s own services.

Namely, the company launched Cloud Gaming and the Duo not far apart but the Duo, which has an optimal design for Cloud Gaming, didn’t make use of the service in a way that would increase its appeal. But that’s changing with the latest update.

As first spotted by Windows Central, a recent update to the Duo can turn the device into an Xbox ‘Nintendo 3DS’. What I mean is that the touch controls can now be on one screen while your gameplay shows up on the other; this is the optimal setting for using the Duo with Cloud Gaming.

I gave this setup a quick spin and I will say that it works well…sometimes. What I mean is that for games like Minecraft Dungeons, this is a good setup. But I would not try to play FPS titles like Gears of War on this type of configuration as touch controls are not always the easiest to use.

You can watch the video of how the setup works but know that it is quite hard to have your hands extended with a camera in front of you while using touch controls – I’m trying to make excuses for my poor gameplay.

That being said, for titles where touch controls are supported and the style of the game isn’t designed around quick reactions, the Duo creates a unique experience. It’s a shame that this functionality wasn’t available at launch but late is better than never.

Tagged with Cloud Gaming, Duo, Surface, xCloud