Earlier today, Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass, an intriguing service where, for $10 a month, costumers get to download from a catalog of over 100 games. It sounds like a great idea- like a Netflix for games, without the uncertainties that are associated with PS Now (and extended to current generation games)- essentially, like a larger scale EA Access.
Now, some more details regarding the service have come to light- for starters, it sounds like subscribing to this service entails you to a 20% discount on Xbox one game purchases, and 10% off for add on content, Season Passes, and DLC (as long as the game itself is available in the Game Pass library). The service is also entirely independent of Xbox live Gold- you don’t need to be a subscriber of one to be a subscriber of the other. That said, naturally, if you want to play your Xbox Game Pass games online, you will need a subscription.
There will be no limit to how many games you can download at a time, and you can play them for as long as you like, as long as your subscription does not lapse. If it does, the games become unavailable to play (unless you bought them). Any Achievements and progress for Xbox Game Pass games remain permanently attached to your account.
On the whole, it’s a surprisingly good service with no catch. It’s good to see something like this come out of Microsoft- I think most Xbox owners would be well benefitted from subscribing to this, much like I said for EA Access previously.
