Summary
- ❓ What is Xbox Game Pass?
- ? How much does the Xbox Game Pass cost?
- ? What devices can I play Xbox Game Pass games on?
- ? Xbox Cloud Gaming: what is it and how does it work?
- ? What is the Xbox Game Pass game catalog?
- Comments
The Xbox Game Pass has become an essential game service that appeals to regulars of the Xbox ecosystem as well as newbies. Its success has been built on a very attractive value for money, with an ever more generous catalog and compatibility with a growing number of devices.
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Microsoft experienced a business failure with the launch of its Xbox One, which was completely eclipsed by Sony's PS4. The American giant, which even considered leaving the video game market following this collapse, was forced to review its strategy from top to bottom to regain attractiveness and consumer confidence. At the heart of this strategy is le fameux Xbox Game Pass, a daring bet that is turning into a real success for Microsoft. Here's everything you need to know about it.
❓ What is Xbox Game Pass?
Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service that provides access to a catalog of video games on different types of devices. It's often described as the Netflix of video games, a comparison that has often been overused, but has been a little more true since the platform has been extended to other ecosystems and support video game streaming.
At regular intervals, games leave and enter Game Pass, constantly renewing the catalog to continue to engage players, who can enjoy it on more and more different screens, by downloading the titles to their devices to play. locally or by launching a game directly from the cloud. You can also find here the list of games coming to Xbox Game Pass by the end of November 2021.
Access to Game Pass games is available as long as the subscription is active. Even if you download them, titles are no longer accessible once the subscription has expired or that they have left the service.
? How much does the Xbox Game Pass cost?
Three Xbox Game Pass offers are currently available:
- Xbox Game Pass pour console : 9,99 euros month
- Xbox Game Pass pour PC : 9,99 euros month
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate : 12,99 euros month
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate brings together both the console and PC offer, and also includes other benefits, such as streaming play via xCloud, the Xbox Live Gold membership which allows you to play online and get two games free each month, and other permanent or temporary privileges, such as discounts on game purchases.
The prices quoted are taken from the official Xbox website, but there are other cheaper ways to acquire Game Pass time through a key system. If you are using a third-party platform, make sure you are purchasing subscription time for the correct region (Europe), some tempting offers from Brazil, Russia or Turkey are not available with us.
One technique to recoup long months of Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions cheaply is to convert EA Play or Xbox Live Gold game time to Game Pass. “When you sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, any prepaid time you have on Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, or EA Play subscriptions rolls over to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate program at the current conversion rate, for up to 36 months. The conversion of prepaid time is final and rates are subject to change, ”Microsoft explains.
And many times, it is more cost effective to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold or EA Play and turn those plans into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate than to purchase the subscription directly to the latter. Below you can find the current conversion table from Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. For EA Play, the ratio is 3: 1, i.e. 12 months of EA Play subscription converts to 4 months of Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
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? What devices can I play Xbox Game Pass games on?
First launched on Xbox consoles, Game Pass is now available to a large number of players on a wide variety of devices. Here is a review of the workforce.
Xbox One et Xbox Series X / S
The Game Pass is available on all models of Xbox One (original, S, X and S All Digital) as well as on new generation consoles, the Xbox Series X and Series S. The service is very well integrated into the interface. and can even be seen as part of the overall Xbox experience.
Windows 10 and 11 PC
On a Windows PC, you have to go through the Xbox application to access the Game Pass games. Where on console there is no need to wonder about the machine's capacity to run a title, the question arises on the computer. Make sure that your configuration is powerful enough before installing a game. Note that the application is already preinstalled if you have a computer running Windows 11.
In this regard, Microsoft recently announced upcoming changes to the Xbox app for Windows. Very soon, players will have the option to choose the installation directory. Great news for users with poor internet connection, who will now be able to transfer their games to an external hard drive if necessary, without having to go through the deletion and new download of the title box. In addition, modders will finally be able to modify the game files available from the Xbox app.
Browsers, Android, iOS
Xbox Game Pass is also accessible from most web browsers via cloud gaming. Safari is supported, therefore bringing the service to iPhones and iPads. To date, this is the only way to take advantage of Game Pass from the Apple ecosystem, which has prevented Microsoft from publishing an application on its App Store for “security reasons”. Going through the browser is a way to get around this ban.
On our Android devices, just download the Xbox Game Pass app from the Play Store. It is also possible to go through the browser, but the app has a better optimized UI and better performance. Also via xCloud, the Game Pass could also soon land natively on Android TV.
? Xbox Cloud Gaming: what is it and how does it work?
As explained previously, the Xbox Cloud Gaming allows Microsoft to distribute its Game Pass on a much larger number of media thanks to cloud gaming technology, video game streaming. The player then does not need to install the title on his machine, nor that this one does not have the appropriate technical specifications to play in good conditions. Indeed, the game actually runs on Microsoft's servers, where all the calculations are done. Then the video and audio streams are sent back to the user's device for normal play.
On the other hand, it is necessary a solid connection to benefit from it, fiber is highly recommended (Xbox announces speeds of 10 Mb / s at least). The performance is also much more convincing with a connection by Ethernet than by Wi-Fi. Latency remains a problem of cloud gaming, but for troubleshooting or for casual gamers, this is a good option that avoids having to buy new equipment to play the new games of the Game Pass.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is available on Windows and Android as an app and browser. And good news, since Microsoft has just announced, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Xbox, the arrival of Xbox Cloud Gaming on the Xbox Series X / S and Xbox One consoles.
In other words, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers and owners of one of these consoles will be able to try out many titles from the catalog through the cloud, without having to download the games on their machine. For players still on Xbox One, this is a major step forward, since they will be able to test Xbox Series X exclusives on their old-gen console thanks to the Cloud. This feature will be rolled out gradually with the firmware update of November 2021.
? What is the Xbox Game Pass game catalog?
Over the years, the Game Pass catalog has become both completed and more complex. When a game interests us, we must now pay attention on what medium it is available between console, PC and cloud. Even if a game is released on Xbox and computer for example, it is possible that it is only present on one of these platforms on the Game Pass, for questions of law or exclusivity. And availability in the cloud isn't always automatic. If, as for years, the official home page of Xbox Game Pass boasts that the platform offers “more than 100 games” to its catalog, it now contains many more.
Xbox Game Studios games
The big attraction of Game Pass is the integration of games and licenses from Xbox Game Studios, which are available from the day of their release on the platform. Halo, Forza, Gears of War, Fable, Age of Empires, Minecraft… all new games and content are immediately available on Game Pass. For example, Microsoft has just added the Halo Infinite multiplayer beta to the Xbox Game Pass PC, but also to Steam.
With its acquisition policy, Microsoft has greatly strengthened its own studios in recent years, making Game Pass extremely interesting. And since the buyout of Bethesda / ZeniMax, other video game monuments have joined the catalog: DOOM, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Prey, Dishonored, Wolfenstein… And the highly anticipated Starfield will appear on November 11, 2022 , date of its launch.
The most popular game in Game Pass history is Forza Horizon 4. The Playground Games racing game was an unprecedented success at Xbox, having passed the 4,5 million player milestone in the 24 hours since its launch, before reaching 10 million players. only a week after its release, a record.
EA Play
Xbox Game Pass also features Electronic Arts' entire EA Play service catalog. There is a certain Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, Need for Speed, Battlefield, Mass Effect, many sports games… Not all EA titles are present, especially the most recent. You must subscribe EA Play Pro to be entitled to all the latest releases like Battlefield 2042 for example.
Third party games
The Game Pass also includes a plethora of games from third-party publishers and developers. We have important players in the industry who are represented (like Sega's Yakuza series for example), but also a good number of independent studios, with games that are sometimes less known than the behemoths that are the AAA, but of high quality, like Hades. Xbox sometimes makes agreements with these third-party studios to obtain an exclusivity or a Day 1 release on the Game Pass. This will be the case in 2022 of The Plague Tale: Requiem of the of the country from Focus Home Interactive, which will be available on the Game Pass from the day of its release.
What are the next new features of the Game Pass?
The entire Xbox Game Pass catalog can be viewed through this link. The filters allow you to sort the results according to genre, platform, features, controls, etc.
Recently, Marvel's Avengers made its debut in Xbox Game Pass. And in October 2021, more titles like Back 4 Blood and Destiny 2: Beyond Light were added. One of the last exclusives to have joined the catalog is none other than the famous Age of Empires 4, but it is only available on PC. On November 5, Forza Horizon 5 will make its debut, both on consoles and on PC.
Before the end of 2021, a blockbuster signed by Microsoft will arrive on Game Pass. The big release at the end of the year is of course Halo Infinite (console and PC). The new episode of the saga, initially scheduled to be released at the same time as the Xbox Series X, will arrive on December 8. The big
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