Microsoft has announced a premium subscription based service that gives consumers access to over 100 Xbox One and 360 titles to choose and play from. The Xbox Games Pass is akin to other subscription based services like Netflix or Origin Access, wherein, for a monthly subscription fee, you get access to a plethora of titles to pick and play.
The access to these titles last as long as your subscription is active, and will get revoked the moment you unsubscribe. Subscribers will also be able to play old Xbox 360 games on their Xbox Ones using backwards compatibility.
Microsoft has assured that the Xbox Games Pass program will not affect the ongoing ‘Games with Gold’, where Microsoft allows Xbox Live Gold Members to download and keep up to two games a month for free.
As of now, the Games Pass program is in beta and will go live for all Xbox users in the spring, giving them access to titles such as Halo 5, Payday 2, Fable III and the likes. The current subscription costs $10 a month and no long-term subscriptions plans have been announced by Microsft as of writing this article.
It’ll be curious to see if Microsoft allows players to gift Games Pass access to their friends, as that would open it up to even more gamers. With the decline in quality of both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Games With Gold free games, for just an extra $10 this could be a gold mine for most gamers.
Frankly, I think this is a good move for gamers who operate on a budget, as it gives them access to a huge library of games at a fraction of the price it would cost them to buy the games itself. Provided you have decent internet to download games regularly or all in one go, this could be a very sweet deal for gamers all over the world.
