What Is Xbox Game Pass?

Xbox Game Pass is a game subscription service for Xbox and Windows 10 that lets members download and play a wide library of games for free so long as they stay subscribed to the service. Think of it as the Netflix for Xbox games. 

Xbox Game Pass started off small but it has quickly grown to be a great offering at a very reasonable price, and it’s an interesting opportunity to get access to a large selection of games on a budget.

Let’s take a deeper look what Xbox Games Pass is, how it works, and how you can get the most out of it if you plan to subscribe.

Xbox Game Pass Overview – Pricing & Available Games

The two most important things to learn about the Xbox Game Pass is the pricing and the available game catalog for Game Pass subscribers. 

Without any deals considered, the Xbox Game Pass for console costs $9.99 per month. Alternatively, you can take out an Xbox Game Pass subscription for PC that only costs $4.99 per month. There’s a higher tier subscription we’ll explain later that bundles in both PC and console, but first let’s go over the basics.

The library of games for Xbox Game Pass members is quite extensive. It includes existing Xbox Game Studio titles such as Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Gears 5, or upcoming titles like Bleeding Edge and Ori and the Will of the Wisps. 

It should also be made clear that this gives you access to download the games to your console or PC to play from your device. This isn’t a cloud gaming service like Project xCloud, so your performance should be much better.

All upcoming Xbox Game Studio titles like Halo Infinite will be available on the Xbox Game Pass on day one of release. Besides that, dozens of third party titles are available on Xbox Game Pass. This includes older games like Minecraft and Darksiders 3, and newer titles like The Outer Worlds and RAGE 2.

There’s no restriction or limit to how many games you can play or how long you can play for. As long as you are an Xbox Game Pass member, you have unlimited access to over a hundred included titles.

The games library for Windows 10 PC users will be different, but there are similarities, including new Xbox Game Studio titles and a catalog of over a hundred games. Xbox Game Pass for PC is certainly amongst the best Windows 10 game subscription services.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate vs Xbox Game Pass

Whilst the standard price for an Xbox Game Pass subscription is $9.99, another pricing tier called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate may be of more interest to you. The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription costs $44.99/quarterly, so $14.99 per month. 

For an extra $5 over the standard Xbox Game Pass, the benefits are well worth considering. You get access to both PC and console games on the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and an Xbox Live Gold membership is included. Which, by comparison, costs $9.99 per month on its own.

If you already pay for Xbox Live Gold, paying for the Ultimate Game Pass tier may actually save you money over subscribing to both the standard Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold separately. 

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members will also get other benefits upon subscribing. These offers include 1 month of EA Access, 2 months of Discord Nitro, and 6 months of Spotify Premium. These benefits are part of a one-time welcome offer.

Xbox Game Pass Deals & Special Offers

Whilst Xbox Live Gold will remain an option for those who just want to play Xbox games online, Xbox is clearly pushing their new Game Pass subscriptions hard. So much so that they are offering some great welcome deals for new Xbox Game Pass members.

If you sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for the first time, you can get the first three months for just $1. After the initial three month period, the $44.99 quarterly price will start, but you can cancel at anytime before that.  

There currently aren’t any offers for the Xbox Game Pass standard subscription for console, but if you keep an eye out, there are regularly offers available. For now, Xbox is pushing people to sign up to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate instead.

If you only want to play PC games, the Xbox Game Pass PC subscription currently has a great offer you’d be interested in. You can get the first month for $1 and then further months are just $4.99.

Bonus Features Xbox Game Pass Members Get

You don’t only get access to a digital game library with Xbox Game Pass. If you want to purchase a game from the Game Pass catalog permanently, you can save up to 20% on the digital price of the game. On top of this, any digital purchases or add-ons for those games will also be available for up to 10% off the standard price.

If you become an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member, you can also play games with the Play Anywhere feature. For example, you can start a game of Sea of Thieves on your Xbox One, then continue it later on your PC.

This includes big titles like Gears 5 and even Xbox original classic remasters such as Voodoo Vince.

Hopefully this has taught you everything you need to know about what the Xbox Game Pass is and what it offers. If you have any more questions about the new Xbox game catalog subscription service, feel free to reach out.