There's no denying that gaming can be an expensive hobby. Those who game on consoles can expect to pay a fee in order to play online in addition to the often $60 price tag attached to many of the popular releases. Expenses can add up fast and with the incredible amount of games coming out each year gamers will no doubt overlook several titles due to budget constraints. This is where a service such as Game Pass can come in handy...
Xbox Game Pass originally launched on June 1, 2017 and is a monthly-charge service offering players full access to over a hundred different titles. You can download and play any of the eligible games to your heart's content so long as you retain your Game Pass membership. First-party titles published by Microsoft Game Studios will be available on Game Pass from release, making this an enticing offer for those who want to see what the Xbox One has to offer.
An Xbox Live subscription is not required in order to use Game Pass, though you will need it to access the online multiplayer games. While Microsoft will typically remove a handful of games at the end of each month, from what I've seen they typically add just as many if not more in order to keep the selection fresh.There's a wide variety of genres on offer and the only one I found lacking was sports titles. While there are a few sports games featured, there are none of the bigger sports titles from publishers like 2K and EA. It's understandable with EA since they have their own service, EA Access where you can subscribe and play their titles. 2K has become a bit too money-hungry with their sports franchises over the recent years so it's doubtful you'll see any of their newer titles featured here.
At the time of this writing the subscription rates are $9.99 per month or $119.99 yearly. If you're interested but not willing to pull the trigger at those prices, keep your eyes peeled as Microsoft will often host sales and promotions for the program, including discounted prices and a 14-day trial to see what's on offer. As is the case with subscribing to Xbox Live, Microsoft will by default enable auto-pay when you add the service so make sure to turn this off if you don't want to be automatically billed.
Xbox Game Pass is primarily focused towards the Xbox One, however you will have access to several of the "play anywhere" titles. Play anywhere titles are a selection of titles that came out on both PC and Xbox One. You can play any of these compatible titles on your PC if you have an Xbox Game pass subscription. With the immense number of games coming out these days, Xbox Game Pass is a great way to sample and experience games you might have overlooked. You're bound to find a few sleepers you didn't know about. Hopefully Microsoft carries this service over to the next console generation!
Final Verdict: Xbox Game Pass is an excellent service that gives you access to over a hundred different games on your Xbox One. A great way to give anybody an instant backlog of stuff to play.
Related Links:
Buy Xbox Game Pass - Microsoft Store
List of Game Pass Featured Titles - Xbox
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