Microsoft this spring will roll out a “Netflix for games” subscription service — Xbox Game Pass, priced at $10 per month — with unlimited access to more than 100 titles.
Initial games set to be available in Xbox Game Pass include “Halo 5: Guardians” (pictured above), from Microsoft’s 343 Industries; 505 Games’ “Payday 2”; 2K’s “NBA 2K16” and Namco’s “SoulCalibur II.” The titles include those developed for Xbox One and backward-compatible Xbox 360 games.
Microsoft’s all-you-can-game offering is similar to Sony’s PlayStation Now service, which for $20 per month offers access to 450 titles — although those are only older games for the PS3 console.
Xbox Game Pass will feature a rotating selection of new games (like Netflix and other subscription services). Publishers in the mix for Xbox Game Pass include 2K, 505 Games, Bandai Namco Entertainment, Capcom, Codemasters, Deep Silver, Focus Home Interactive, Sega, SNK, THQ Nordic GmbH, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Microsoft Studios.
“Xbox Game Pass is your ticket to endless play,” Phil Spencer, head of Xbox, wrote in a blog post announcing the service.
In addition, Microsoft will offer Xbox Game Pass members a discount on all of the Xbox One games and related add-ons in the catalog, if customers want to make them a permanent part of their collections.
Microsoft said it will test Xbox Game Pass with “select members” of the Xbox Insider Program starting Tuesday with a very limited number of titles. In addition, Xbox Live Gold members will be receiving exclusive access to Xbox Game Pass prior to the program launching broadly.
