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This blog was updated in November 2022.
Right now, Xbox Game Pass is easily one of the best deals in gaming. It’s going to change the way you value games and change the games industry at large. If you’ve haven’t signed up already, here are some reasons why you should seriously consider doing so.
The Netflix of Games
From PlayStation Now to Apple Arcade, we’ve seen so many gaming subscription services crop up in the wake of Netflix’s success. None, however, come close to the sheer breadth of what’s offered by Xbox Game Pass. Out of them all, Xbox Game Pass is arguably the only gaming subscription service that can lay claim to being ‘the Netflix of games.’
As of November 2022, there’s well over 400 games playable on both Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass, with new additions every month. That’s an enormous catalogue of games. And with games cycling in and out of the service, you’ll never run out of something to play.
And Xbox Game Pass isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. More games including blockbuster titles are constantly being added to the service. It’s a big bet, but Microsoft is all-in on Xbox Game Pass as the future of gaming.
The Enormous Xbox Game Pass Catalogue
Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass for the month of November
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This figure of ‘over 400 games’ isn’t padded out with bargain bin games either. Many of the year’s biggest releases end up on Xbox Game Pass, arriving day-in-date a lot of the time. Of course, taking centre stage are games published by Xbox Game Studios, including from iconic Xbox franchises like Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and more.
It’s not just Xbox’s own games, plenty of third-party games make up the service’s catalogue. From the entirety of the Hitman reboot trilogy to fan favourites such as Mass Effect Legendary Edition via EA Play (included as part of PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate). The catalogue is rounded out nicely with a selection of indies too, some of which we featured in our Best of Xbox Game Pass blog.
We’ve named only a tiny slither of games on Xbox Game Pass, but this demonstrates what’s so great about the service. Already, that’s an open-world racing game, a multi-player first-person shooter, and an epic sci-fi role-playing game you can play through Xbox Game Pass – and there’s hundreds more to choose from. So, no matter what type of gamer you are, there’s something for you on Xbox Game Pass.
Your Next Favourite Game
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Xbox Game Pass’s catalogue of game encompasses a wide range of genres. You’ll no doubt find games on the service that you know and love. However, we’d argue that it’s even better for discovering new games you otherwise wouldn’t have given a shot if they weren’t included in the service.
Even though it’s from a rather niche genre, look at how many people gave Microsoft Flight Simulator a go simply because it was included as part of Xbox Game Pass. If it wasn’t on Xbox Game Pass and you had to pay full price for it, would the game of reached as many people as it did?
Every game you see on Xbox Game Pass is included in your subscription, so you can try out hundreds of games to your heart’s content. Even ones that pique your interest just a little bit. After all, it’s not like there’s a big monetary commitment with Xbox Game Pass. You might stumble upon your next favourite game in the process.
Day One game releases on Xbox Game Pass
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For many, the most enticing prospect of Xbox Game Pass is that many of the year’s biggest releases debut ‘day one’ on the service at no extra charge. If you haven’t kept up with the gaming news, Microsoft has made some industry-shaking moves as of late. They’ve acquired or are in the process of acquiring two of the largest third-party game publishers: Bethesda and Activision-Blizzard.
Xbox completed the buy-out of Bethesda back in early 2021, so you’ll find practically the entirely of Bethesda’s game catalogue on Xbox Game Pass already. This includes Bethesda Softworks games (Fallout, The Elder Scrolls), id Software (Doom), Arkane Studios (Dishonored, Prey, Deathloop), and many more.
Seeing as it’s the biggest acquisition in entertainment history, the Activision-Blizzard buy-out will take some time to go through (pending governments’ anti-trust investigations). After Microsoft’s announcement that they planned to acquired Activision-Blizzard, Phil Spencer (CEO of Microsoft Gaming) said “Upon close, we will offer as many Activision-Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision-Blizzard’s incredible catalogue.’
What does this all mean for gamers and Xbox Game Pass subscribers? Well, highly anticipated games from Bethesda like Starfield and (at long last) The Elder Scrolls 6 will be available on Xbox Game Pass the day they release. And if the buy-out completes without a hitch, Diablo 4 and even Call of Duty (one of gaming’s biggest franchises) will all be a part of your monthly subscription. Rest assured; you can expect every Xbox Game Studios title to be playable on Xbox Game Pass the same day as release too. If you’re wanting to play all these games day one, Xbox Game Pass is too good of an offer to pass up.
The Best Deal in Gaming
£69.99 games!
Image by: PlayStation
To demonstrate how much money, you could save with Xbox Game Pass, let’s look at the biggest additions to the service in 2021. Towards the end of 2021, we saw month after month of impressive day-in-date releases on Xbox Game Pass: Age of Empires 4 in October, Forza Horizon 5 in November, and Halo Infinite in December. Each of these games would’ve cost at least £50 to buy on release, leading many to pick and choose which one they played over the holiday season.
With Xbox Game Pass, you could’ve played them all for a fraction of the cost. We’re assuming these are PC game prices too, some current-gen consoles games fetch up to an eye-watering £70. Once you’ve factored in the outlay for a gaming device itself, the games, and paying for online services on a console, the price quickly adds up.
Crunching the numbers
Xbox Game Pass starts at only £7.99 a month for Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (which includes Xbox Live Gold, EA play, and other extras) is £10.99 a month. Considering £60 or sometimes even £70 for new AAA games is becoming the norm, Xbox Game Pass presents as an astonishingly good value. Day one releases, a huge library of games, and more – it’s the best deal in gaming.
Check out Ebuyer for discounts on Xbox Game Pass download codes for an even better bargain. If you need help deciding which one’s for you, we’ve compared each tier of Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass might sound like the best options for their respective devices, but Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is seriously worth considering too.
Member’s Discount
Discount if you’re a subscriber.
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On top of the huge game catalogue, a subscription to any tier of Xbox Game Pass gives you a decent member’s discount. With it, you’ll get up to 20% off game purchases from the Xbox Game Pass library and 10% off game-related purchases (as in downloaded content and micro-transactions), perfect if you’re saving up some premium currency to unlock a limited-time cosmetic.
The main caveat with Xbox Game Pass is that some games leave the service after some time. Understandably, Xbox’s own games are permanent additions. Halo, Forza, Gears of War – these iconic Xbox franchises will always be playable on Xbox Game Pass.
It’s third-party games that are cycled on-and-off the service, however. There’s no concrete rule for how long a game must stay up on Xbox Game Pass. It could be from three months to over a year, it’s all up to the game’s publisher and the deal they brokered with Xbox. For as many new games brought to the service each month, you’ve got to say goodbye to some older ones. So, take advantage of the member’s discount to buy your favourite Xbox Game Pass games before they leave the service.
Fortunately, Xbox lets you know well ahead of time when a game is scheduled to leave the service in the ‘Leaving Soon’ tab of the Xbox Game Pass app, as well as at the end of their ‘Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass’ blog updates. So don’t worry, you’ll be given enough notice to finish a game’s campaign and hunt for those missing achievements. That’s not to say these games can’t return to the service either. We’ve seen games leave Xbox Game Pass only to crop up again sometime later.
Xbox Cloud Gaming
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Consoles are deeply engrained in Xbox’s DNA, stretching as far back to the original Xbox released in 2001. However, there’s an argument to be made that the console ecosystem is curbing the potential audience for gaming. How do you convince a non-gamer, someone who’s never touched a controller before, to fork over a chunk of change for a console and its increasingly expensive games?
Ultimately, it seems that Microsoft’s end goal with Xbox Game Pass is to grow Xbox past its console roots and put the service in as many hands as possible. We’ve already seen Xbox moving away from strict console exclusives and embracing PC gaming in recent years. When you see ‘Xbox exclusive’ as part of a game’s marketing nowadays, you can safely assume it means Xbox consoles as well as PC. No longer does ‘Xbox’ refer to just the consoles themselves, but a broader ecosystem that encapsulates consoles, PCs, and now cloud streaming with Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Play on any device
Look at the enormous subscriber base of Netflix, a streaming service that you don’t have to buy a dedicated device for. It’ll run on pretty much anything. That’s what Microsoft’s trying to replicate with Xbox Cloud Gaming. No longer do you need a powerful console or gaming PC to run games on. Instead, Xbox Cloud Gaming enables streaming games from Microsoft’s data centres to smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, and more.
As of now, Xbox Cloud Gaming is only available through a subscription to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. These two services work perfectly together, however, lowering the bar of entry to gaming. For just £10.99 a month, you get access to Xbox Series-level hardware in the cloud as well as a massive library of games to play, which you can stream to devices you already own.
If you’ve only dabbled in smartphone games and haven’t made the leap to console games, or live in a country with steep regional pricing and console import fees, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with Xbox Cloud Gaming is a great way to get started. So, whether you’re playing on a console, gaming PC, or a device like a smartphone, Xbox is building a platform-agnostic future where games can be enjoyed anywhere with anyone.
Xbox Game Pass at Ebuyer
Xbox Game Pass is going to have a huge impact on the games industry and the way we play games. From making gaming more affordable and accessible to a wider audience to introducing new genres to gamers and expanding the range of devices you can play games on. If you want in on this future of gaming, check out Xbox Game Pass download codes over at Ebuyer.
