Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass promises access to over 100 games for a $10 per month subscription fee. Microsoft wants Xbox Game Pass to be the “Netflix of video games”—but is it really worth it?
What Is Xbox Game Pass?
Xbox Game Pass gives you unlimited access to a game library for one monthly fee.
Rather than paying for each game you want to play, you pay $10 per month for unlimited access to a catalog of games. You can play these games all you like. There’s also a fourteen-day free trial to get you started.Unlike Sony’s PlayStation Now, which streams games over the Internet, Xbox Game Pass isn’t doing anything too unconventional. Paying the subscription fee allows you to download games to your Xbox One and play them like you would any other game you purchased from the Xbox Store.
This service requires an Xbox One. Microsoft may one day extend Xbox Game Pass to Windows 10 PCs, but that hasn’t happened yet. While it does incorporate Xbox 360 games, those games can only be played in backwards compatibility mode on an Xbox One—not on an Xbox 360.
Note that Xbox Game Pass is separate from Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft’s subscription service that enables online multiplayer gameplay, allows access to game deals, and offers free games every month. You can use Xbox Game Pass without paying for Xbox Live Gold. However, if a game available via Xbox Game Pass has online multiplayer features, you can only play multiplayer if you’re also paying for Xbox Live Gold.
How Many Games Are Available?
So Xbox Game Pass is pretty simple: For $10 per month, you get access to a catalog of games and you can download and play them all you want on your Xbox One.
What makes or breaks a service like this is the selection of games. As of July 12, 2017, there are 119 games available in the catalog. They aren’t all Xbox One games. In fact, the majority of them are Xbox 360 games that you can play on your Xbox One through the backwards compatibility feature.
You will see some big-name games here. You’ll find five games from the Gears of War series, Halo 5: Guardians, all three BioShock games, NBA 2K16, Saints Row IV: Re-Elected, and more. But the list is rounded out with older Xbox 360 games and smaller indie games. That doesn’t mean they’re bad, but you certainly aren’t getting all the latest full-price Xbox…
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