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Microsoft To Launch Its Netflix-Style Game Pass On June 1; Live Gold Subscribers Get Early Access (polygon.com)

Posted by msmash on from the netflix-style-gaming dept.

Microsoft announced today that Xbox Game Pass, a new subscription service that would allow Xbox One owners to download and play a selection of games for a flat monthly fee, will launch on June 1. From a report: Xbox Live Gold subscribers, however, can access the service starting today, May 24. Microsoft is offering a 14-day free trial of Xbox Game Pass, giving Gold subscribers a chance to preview the service at no cost prior to launch. Xbox Game Pass offers "unlimited access to over one hundred great Xbox One and Xbox 360 titles" for $9.99 per month.

36 comments

  1. SO GAMEFLY? DVDS IN THE MAIL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Don't think it'll fly.

  2. Netflix Style Game Pass? by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

    Since when did Netflix sell a game pass?

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    1. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by Gilgaron · · Score: 2

      "All-you-can-eat electronic monthly subscription service" versus Gamefly which would be the Netflix (DVD service) of videogames.

    2. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      except on netflix.. one subscription gets you access to EVERY NETFLIX TITLE...

      while microsoft only offers a "selection" (THEIR CHOICE) of titles, which will surely be absolute shit (if it isn't already) once they con enough suckers into signing up.

      expect crap titles or ones with microtransactions inside.

      and when THEIR CHOICE changes.. what then? you lose access to previously-available titles you've invested some time in? have yet to complete? like to replay? perhaps even purchased in-game items? fuck that.

      at least (probably, anyway) they won't be intentionally degrading performance should you use the subscription to it's potential (as in, use it.. a lot), like netflix by mail operates.

    3. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      The 'risk' there would be like starting a non-Netflix series binge and then they lose the rights before you're done. I don't know how MS will handle it (I'm not a potential customer so I've not looked into it in any detail), but in an ideal world I would think that they would make the game unavailable for download but allow people with it already cached to continue playing, potentially with some long expiration date.

    4. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      "All-you-can-eat electronic monthly subscription service" versus Gamefly which would be the Netflix (DVD service) of videogames.

      Don't you love it when history repeats itself? It is like Gamefly. It's also like Playstation Plus except Playstation Plus does some rather despicable things like working with game studios to ensure certain content is only accessible if you also have a Playstation Plus subscription, for example: Destiny. I think Call of Duty does this too. The adolescents don't really care because Mommy and Daddy are footing the bill. XBox subscription does that same thing.

      Want to know the real root cause of all this subscription nonsense? It all started on Wall Street. There is a little thing called General Accepted Accounting Principles which is the way that publicly traded companies have to disclose their quarterly SEC filings. Investors use quarterly SEC filings in addition to other things to determine whether to buy or dump stocks. Subscription based income looks a lot better on paper than arbitrary contracts with different lengths and products being sold in inconsistent quantities over time. Investors want to know in more detail what to expect when investing their money. So, guess what? You, the consumer, get screwed so some rich investment banker can have their risk tolerance satisfied. I love America.

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    5. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by rogoshen1 · · Score: 1

      well wouldn't MS be the publisher in this case, and therefore not subject to the inane licensing bullshit studios impose on netflix? Something tells me netflix doesn't pull titles because they want to, they negotiate access to titles for X amount of time

    6. Re:Netflix Style Game Pass? by Gilgaron · · Score: 1

      Does Microsoft publish all their games or merely license them to publishers? I thought it was the latter... ie EA publishes games for all the consoles. MS has their subsidiaries wholly owned, like Bungie making Halo, but I doubt they have free reign to let people play Madden as much as they want without having to beg and plead Netflix-style.

  3. Exactly like Netflix by Luthair · · Score: 1, Troll

    All the games everyone has played already mixed with ones no one wanted to play.

    1. Re:Exactly like Netflix by barc0001 · · Score: 2

      I guess that's why Netflix is failing and has no subscribers right?

    2. Re:Exactly like Netflix by Luthair · · Score: 1

      Tyranny of the subscriptions, no one cancels them. Ask your local gym what % of people actually come in.

    3. Re:Exactly like Netflix by zifn4b · · Score: 1

      I guess that's why Netflix is failing and has no subscribers right?

      Non-sequitir. Netflix is a subscription based service, Playstation Plus is a subscription based service therefore if PSP would fail then Netflix should also fail. The real truth is streaming video SaaS model is very different from video game SaaS model.

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    4. Re:Exactly like Netflix by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      More accurately, training, to get the gullible fools used to paying a windows anal probe 10 subscription, stop paying and they brick your electronic devices, make you pay a major fee to re initiate service and then pay subscription a year in advance and then a bond and then any other fees and charges they can invent, including a percentage of all credit card purchases validated on a windows anal probe 10 devices.

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  4. Color me shocked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are "over 100 great Xbox One and Xbox360 titles?" Since when?

    1. Re:Color me shocked! by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 4, Funny

      Since they started counting their games in binary.

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  5. I'd love to get this for my kids... by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...but my monthly internet allowance is only 750GB.

    1. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you poor? Just make more money so you can get a better plan.

    2. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by barc0001 · · Score: 1

      And? From what I understand the games are downloaded and run locally. Unless your kids are installing 2-3 games per night that 750GB should be fine.

    3. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

      "Only" 750GB... never come to Canada, buddy.

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    4. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by Harold+Halloway · · Score: 1

      I've seen games that needed a 50GB update before they would run. That was the point I was trying to make.

    5. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't understand. In the 21st century we're no longer constrained by aging infrastructure or local monopolies. Game developers need not waste their time packaging releases in different languages or in avoiding needless overwrites of previously used assets for their updates.

    6. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by DaHat · · Score: 1

      Who says a better plan has a higher cap?

      I'm paying for the faster Comcast data tier, which simply means I hit the same 1tb cap faster than those not paying more.

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    7. Re:I'd love to get this for my kids... by sixsixtysix · · Score: 1

      Seeing that Comcast has both an additional $50/unlimited or $10/50gb overage, do they really have a cap?

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  6. Re:Fuck watching jew movies by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mr. Trump please put your phone down while we're in a meeting.

  7. Re:SO GAMEFLY? DVDS IN THE MAIL? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    What the fuck is "mail"?

    Oh, do you mean the eBay packages delivery service?

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  8. And Most are shit. by Lumpy · · Score: 1

    Honestly, Look at that list, if you have been a gold member for the past 2 years you ALREADY OWN all those games as they gave them to you for free.
    They need to be out the door with at least last years AAA titles...

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    1. Re:And Most are shit. by Lanforod · · Score: 1

      Halo 5? I guess that's a few months older than last year.

    2. Re:And Most are shit. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The games list is too small, ten bucks a month is too much.

      I already have to pay 50 bucks a year just to play games online, which sucks, and as you said they already give me most of these games for free.

      For...say....5 bucks a month and no extra fee for online play, I would go for it. As it stands now the balance of offerings and price just doesn't make sense.

  9. exclusives by bobmajdakjr · · Score: 1

    i cant wait to see how many 2d platformer exclusives they have via gamepass.

  10. Re:SO GAMEFLY? DVDS IN THE MAIL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    eBay? You mean Amazon Prime?

  11. Re:Fuck watching jew movies by ItsJustAPseudonym · · Score: 1

    "Sad."

  12. Re: SO GAMEFLY? DVDS IN THE MAIL? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Where you stay home all day on a weekday waiting for a minimum wage employee to bring a package to your home at a random time during the day off which you get no notice and, since you took the day off just to stay home to collect it, will probably end up not being delivered but instead just putting a card in your letterbox.

  13. Re: SO GAMEFLY? DVDS IN THE MAIL? by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    In Canada, eBay packages go into something called a "mailbox". I have no idea how your third-world country works.

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  14. Signed Up - Not bad by bigman2003 · · Score: 1

    Lots of comments here from people who want this to be bad, but don't know what they are talking about.

    I signed up for this yesterday- had no idea it was 'Launch Day'. I have already downloaded and started playing some of the games. In my mind, this will be worth the $10/month no problem.

    I won't mention which games I've downloaded, because that will just elicit a list of 'problems' like, "That was free in December 2016" or, "That's an 8 year old game", etc. etc.

    I will say that I signed up and it started working immediately. One game I will mention is Halo 5. Previously a friend had loaned this to me, so I had it on my Xbox- including the massive update. I was happy to see that it instantly recognized that it was part of the Game Pass, and activated it for me. No additional download (or worse- re-download).

    I was able to go through the games list with my kids, and say "Yep, you can get whichever ones you want..." that was nice. And you know what? They don't care that a lot of the games are 360 backwards compatible...they are/were still good games! (Okay, another mention...Lego Batman. Still a great game!)

    I had previously signed up for EA Access, and that wasn't bad. Loved the Plants vs. Zombies shooters. But that library was too limited. The Xbox Game Pass has a larger and more varied library.

    99% of people complaining about this service haven't actually seen it, or used it. You can listen to those yokels if you want...but my experience (less than 48 hours) is that this seems like a pretty good deal and super convenient.

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