Xbox Game Pass for PC: Price, Games, Availability, and my thoughts
Microsoft launched the subscription service Xbox Game Pass for PC officially during its press event at the E3 2019 conference. Head of Xbox and gaming at Microsoft, Phil Spencer, revealed the new service on May 30, 2019 for the first time but did not reveal information about pricing, availability of the service or included games at the time.
Xbox Game Pass for PC is a subscription-based service that brings Microsoft's successful Xbox Game Pass subscription-service to PC.
Customers pay a monthly subscription fee to gain unlimited access to a library of games. Microsoft promises that over 100 games will be available at launch; gamers interested in the current offering can check out this collection on the Microsoft Store which lists 64 different games that are included at the time of writing.
Price varies from region to region; gamers pay $9.99 per month in the United States for Xbox Games Pass for PC. Microsoft runs two promotions currently that drop the first-month price to just $1 and thereafter for $4.99 per month for a limited period of time.
There is also an option to get the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate instead which combines Xbox Games PC for PC and Xbox Games Pass for Consoles, and a Xbox Live Gold subscription. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is offered for $14.99 per month with the first month payment just $1 as well.
Existing Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass for Consoles subscriptions are upgraded automatically to Ultimate when a customer subscribes to the new plan.
Xbox Game Pass for PC: games
It should not come as a surprise that quite a few Microsoft first-party titles are on the list as well as several games that are available for Xbox.
The list includes UWP games and Win32 games, and features several Halo titles, Gears of War, Sunset Overdrive, or Wasteland 2 Director's Cut.
- Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition
- Forza Horizon 4 Standard Edition
- Gears of War 4
- State of Decay 2
- ReCore
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition for Windows 10
- Astroneer
- Zoo Tycoon Ultimate Animal
- Hello Neighbor
- Rise of Nations: Extended Edition
- Crackdown 3
- Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
- Rise of the Tomb Raider
- Halo Wars 2: Standard Edition
- Sunset Overdrive
- Wolfenstein II
- Halo: Spartan Strike
- Disneyland Adventures
- Moonlighter
- Halo: Spartan Assault
- Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
- Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite
- Rush: A DisneyPixar Adventure
- SuperHot - Windows 10
- Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
- Super Lucky's Tale
- Old Man's Journey
- Supermarket Shriek
- Riverbond
- Full Metal Furies
- ABZU
- Samorost 3
- Bridge Constructor Portal
- ACA NEOGEO Metal Slug X
- Thimbleweed Park
- The Last Door: Season 2
- We Happy Few
- Snake Pass
- Tacoma
- Die for Valhalla
- Guacamelee 2
- Ruiner
- Wargroove
- Oxenfree
- Steamworld Dig 2
- Titan Quest Anniversary Edition
- Silence -- The Whispered World 2
- Operencia: The Stolen Sun
- Riptide GP: Renegage
- Momodora: Reverie Under The
- RIME: Windows Edition
- Stealth Inc 2
- Wasteland 2: Director's Cut
- Neon Chrome
- Everspace
- The Gardens Between
- The Turing Test
- Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
- Thumper
- Apocalipsis
- Book of Demons
- Lichtspeer: Double Speer Edition
- Hydro Thunder Hurricane
Regional differences are possible.
Closing Words and verdict
Xbox Games Pass for PC is an interesting offer for some gamers. Subscribers pay $119.88 per year for an undiscounted subscription and can play any of the available games for as long as they want during the subscription period.
The offer may be of interest to gamers who would have purchased at least three or four of these games anyway, and especially so if Microsoft manages to add fairly recent games to the service. One has to remember, however, that games are not owned. While that is not necessarily the case if you purchase games on Steam and other platforms, you won't lose access to the purchased games like you would if you cancel your Xbox Game Pass subscription. If you cancel your Xbox Game Pass subscription you will lose access to all games after the subscription period ends.
I'm also not sure how Microsoft handles DLC, expansions and the like. Can these be purchased and added to the games, or cannot they? What about games that support mods?
Ultimately, it is up to the individual to decide whether there is enough value in Microsoft's offering. It is certainly possible to subscribe for a month, play the game or games you really want, and cancel the subscription before the next renewal period.
As far as I'm concerned, I'm not sold on the idea of subscribing to a service to play a collection of games for a monthly subscription fee. In the end, I'd like to own the games that I play and while that becomes more and more difficult, it at least means that I can keep on playing games that I purchased for as long as I like without having to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep the access.
Now You: What is your take on that? Would you subscription-based services to play games?
Can I mode these games?
Hell yeah, sure i would “subscription-based services to play games”. I managed to get a free 1-month trial some time ago and finished for me the most interesting games they offered – ReCore, Halo Wars, Crackdown 3, Forza Horizon 4, Gears of War 4. Now calculate how much i’d need to pay for each vs. one month for $10 to finish all 5.
Like for Origin Access – i managed to snatch a free trial that lasts until 04.2020 and my plan is to finish everything they offer and isn’t available on Steam. I’ll also do the same with Uplay+ when i get the free 09.2019 trial.
What about quality ?
I tested PSNow to play bloodborne, but it was 720p and the quality was horrible, had a headache in 5 minutes.
This thing isn’t streaming, it’s more like “pay a subscription and download + play any of the games we’re offering”. It can be compared to Origin Access or future Uplay+.
I don’t like the idea of “pay for whatever we have (or we might have in the future”. No, I’ll go on Steam and pay for whatever I want, if I want.
No, it’s awesome. I am going to subscribe in summer only in these services.I have the time to play more games during summer. It would cost me less than buying 1 game. Buying games is very expensive unlike renting games. And I will be able to enjoy hunders of games. I will keep buying some games though to play during the fall (limited free time because of work). But I think I will end up with Stadia, not with Microsoft’s offerings because I prefer to use linux and Microsoft will probably have their service locked in Windows only.
“Would you subscription-based services to play games?”
I would, for games that are inherently remote in nature (such as MMORPGs) if there were any such games that appealed to me. My taste in gaming doesn’t lean in that direction, though.
For all other games, I would not. If a game is interesting to me, I want to know that I’ll be able to play it indefinitely. It’s quite common for me to revisit games I bought 20+ years ago and enjoy them again, and I am very hesitant to pay money for any game that I’m not confident this is true for.
So, generally speaking, subscription services are not appealing to me.