Move over Netflix, the next great streaming service has been announced and it’s come from a usual source. Microsoft, the brains (and money) behind top console the Xbox One, have unveiled their new gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass, and it sounds great.

The service will be launched this spring, and will give subscribers a selection of games to download and play for $9.99 a month. Games will also be available at discount prices to own for anyone subscribing to the service. According to the official statement released via the official website, the service will kick off with around 100 different titles, including Halo 5: Guardians, Payday 2, The Mega Man CollectionNBA 2K16 and SoulCalibur II.

As of press time, EA are the only publishers who will not be involved, which presumably has more to do with their own EA Access service than any resistance to the idea. According to Microsoft, 2K, 505 Games, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Capcom, Codemasters, Deep Silver, Focus Home Interactive, Sega, SNK Corporation, THQ Nordic GmbH, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Microsoft Studios have all signed on to the project and will be providing games for the service.

According to Kotaku, the Xbox Game Pass will start rolling out today as an exclusive for certain members of the Xbox Insider program.  Xbox Live Gold members will get early access before it goes live for all Xbox One owners in Spring. Xbox 360 games will be available as a backwards compatible element, but the service itself will not be available to 360 users.

Here’s the official statement:

Continuing our commitment to give you more options to diversify and expand your library of games with Xbox Game Pass, a new gaming subscription service coming later this spring.
One of the best things about Xbox Game Pass is that you can discover and download the full titles directly on your Xbox One. That means continuous, full-fidelity gameplay without having to worry about streaming, bandwidth or connectivity issues. In addition, all Xbox One games in the catalog – and related add-ons – will be available to purchase at an exclusive discount for Xbox Game Pass members, so you can make the games you love part of your permanent library to play whenever you want. Every month new games will cycle into the subscription with some cycling out, giving you a constantly-updating library of games. Xbox Game Pass is your ticket to endless play.

There’s no denying this is a unique take on the way premium gaming is delivered to platform users, and can only be a good thing all round. It will be interesting to see how well the service takes off, and how it will be integrated when Project Scorpio is launched later this year.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.