Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Microsoft To Combine Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Into $14.99-a-Month Subscription (theverge.com)

Posted by msmash on from the up-next dept.

Microsoft is planning on launching a new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription that combines Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass into a single monthly charge. From a report: Twitter user h0x0d first revealed the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and it claims the service will be priced at $14.99 per month. The Verge understands that Microsoft will likely unveil this service alongside the company's new disc-less Xbox One S All-Digital edition later this month. The combination of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live subscriptions into a single monthly charge means Xbox owners will save around $5 per month compared to the $19.98 monthly subscription price for an existing combination of the two. It's not a massive savings, but the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offering will make a lot of sense for Microsoft's new disc-less Xbox One S since this console won't include a Blu-ray drive and will rely heavily on digital downloads and Xbox subscription services.

44 comments

  1. And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And if you stop paying it'll be useless.

    For that setup, I'd want the Xbox X-Stream to be zero cost. If they want me to rent all the games, then give away the hardware

    1. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      You can still buy games.

    2. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can still buy games.

      You aren't buying a damned thing when it's digital download only and the publisher can decide at any point to take away your copy.

    3. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by jeadly · · Score: 1

      I've got bad news if you think buying it on a disc changes that relationship dynamic.

    4. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got bad news if you think buying it on a disc changes that relationship dynamic.

      Yeah, well, they're welcome to remotely revoke my physical disc on a console which isn't connected to the internet. Good luck with that.

      Nobody can suddenly decide my old copy of Gran Tourismo or whatever is no longer valid, and no matter what they say, I still retain right of first sale on the physical disc.

      Tell me again how this is similar to a digital copy where they can, and will, decide to remove it from your collection. That's right, it isn't similar.

    5. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet. They can't revoke it without talking to your xbox.

      I don't understand how Slashdot is full of people who can't understand basic technology.

    6. Re: And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They make it so these games NEED to have internet access or else it won't work.

    7. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Xbox users seriously pay $20/month just to play games, and they're not revolting?
      (well, some of them are kinda revolting but no more so than gamers on other platforms)

    8. Re: And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by kingbilly · · Score: 1

      I would mod you up if I had the points. Not every game needs internet access, but the parent was also wrong to ignore the fact that some of the most popular games don't run without an internet connection. It probably won't be long before more singleplayer games need them. Even things like Destiny are kind of pushing it with their "shared-world-shooter" needing a constant internet connection, even if you only want to play along. And there are modes where you can be completely isolated from other humans, before someone says otherwise.

      Not hard to imagine things continuing down that path. With developers (likely at the wishes of the publishers) assuring you that your single player game absolutely NEEDS the internet for this must-have feature that enhances the game. Again, there will still be other games out there but I think the parent was wrong for stating Slashdot users don't understand basic technology.
      When Destiny's servers are down, you can't even tweak keybindings which are local to your machine. No connection, no game.

    9. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if you keep paying, you'll be paying for Microsoft to spy on you and get richer off of your data. You'll be paying Microsoft for the "privilege" of doing their work for them.

    10. Re: And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Further to this, EVERY GAME PASS GAME REQUIRES A CONNECTION. And the reason for this is simple - when you download a game via Game Pass, you are not buying the game, it is only available to you for as long as it's available on Game Pass and as long as you keep paying for Game Pass. If you stop paying for Game Pass or Microsoft removes a game from the Game Pass lineup, the game is no longer playable on your console. Thus every time you start a game downloaded via Game Pass, it checks the Xbox Live authentication servers. This was proven several months back when Microsoft was having issues with the authentication servers - for a few days, no Game Pass games were playable for users in several regions because the authentication servers were not functioning properly and the Xbox Consoles could not connect or get authentication info.

      If you do not have an active connection, games that you downloaded via Game Pass are not playable, period.

    11. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Only the users dumb enough to pay monthly and only directly to Microsoft. The smart users buy 12-month subscription cards for anywhere from $25 to $45 in various places on the web.

      What will be interesting to see is whether Microsoft offers 3, 6, and 12 month packages like they do for Gold now, and if you'll be able to buy them through 3rd-party retailers like you can Gold now. At Microsoft's current rates, the full price of Gold is $59.99/yr, which is essentially half-price from the monthly rate ($9.99 x 12, rounded up to next whole dollar, minus 1 cent). At that discount level, the combined packaged should be 89.99 for the year. And if they allow it to be purchased through 3rd parties, it should be around $37 to $72 around the web.

    12. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by fox171171 · · Score: 1

      You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet. They can't revoke it without talking to your xbox.

      I don't understand how Slashdot is full of people who can't understand basic technology.

      So, one game per console?

    13. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XBox sales have flat lined for years and soon even Nintendo Switch will pass it on amount of total units sold. Stunts like this will definitely not help MS. I just bought a Super Mario Deluxe for Switch on $50 and I can continue playing it as long as the device boots. On XBox I would have to pay $15 a month to even keep game saves. MS is in a total ransomware business model now.

    14. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by noodler · · Score: 1

      "You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet."

      Yeah, back in 1999 you could...
      But these days games won't start without internet because they say you *need* the social features.
      Of course this is not about the social features, it's about control and profit maxing.
      But you won't hear them say that they make more money off of you this way.
      They just say that they implemented some social shit that is woven into the game so deeply it won't start without it.
      And they can't change it because coding is magic and you can't change magic without killing some unicorns and at least a dozen dwarfs.
      And you're not unicorn haters, are you?
      Thought not. So eat it up you little shits!

    15. Re:And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And never connect again or they revoke your downloaded games. With physical media, it is literally impossible for them to revoke it. I can place that disc in any PS4 console and it will always work.

    16. Re: And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Suit yourself, but the fact remains you can still buy games.

    17. Re: And if you stop paying it'll be useless! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I prefer digital downloads. It means I donâ(TM)t need to change discs all the time. After a few years the discs are worthless anyway so it saves me having to drop them off a the charity shop.

  2. Kendalls wasted life by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    At only $14.99 per month of mom's money, he'll be a video-game oriented jobless Colorado incel long after Trump hangs for treason.

  3. Sweet! by BringsApples · · Score: 1

    At $15/month that's waaay cheaper than taking my kid to a movie, or out to a water park or out.... oh wait. I see what they did there.

    --
    Politics; n. : A religion whereby man is god.
    1. Re:Sweet! by alvinrod · · Score: 2

      They're kids. Kick them outside and they'll make their own games as long as their imagination hasn't been completely eroded.

    2. Re:Sweet! by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Pretty sure you can get arrested for that these days.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    3. Re:Sweet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      They're kids. Kick them outside and they'll make their own games as long as their imagination hasn't been completely eroded.

      Trust me, if it hasn't happened, it will have in a few years.

      I was in a restaurant the other day, and this very young child (probably less than 2, definitely not speaking yet) was sat down and had a tablet shoved in front of it to keep it quiet. There he/she was, stuffing fries into their face and watching YouTube videos. Both parents had their faces in their phones the whole time.

      On at least a weekly basis I see some kid having a fucking meltdown which can only be solved by giving a phone for entertainment.

      There is going to be an entire generation of kids who have always been given YouTube and video games to shut them up ... because they have been raised by parents who are incapable of putting down their own phones.

      I fear some of these kids are simply never going to develop an imagination or the ability to play on their own, because they've simply been shut up with a digital device.

      I figure these parents deserve the shit-storm of badly behaved children don't deserve my sympathy -- in a lot of cases, it's hard to think of it as anything but entirely their own fault. If you've pacified your child with digital toys their entire life, can you really expect to make them stop when it's something you've always done?

    4. Re:Sweet! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      someone needs to find the budget theater, or one not part of a big chain..... i can take the kids to a first-run movie, including snacks, for less than $4 per kid.

    5. Re:Sweet! by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure these kids will grow up to be the nurses at our old folks home.

  4. Nope ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    since this console won't include a Blu-ray drive and will rely heavily on digital downloads and Xbox subscription services

    Well, then that console is pretty much dead to me, just like the XBone.

    I play video games only occasionally, not on-line, and under no set schedule. I'm not having an always connected appliance which is going to do more of the bullshit of spying on me to benefit Microsoft.

    When my XBox 360 dies, that will probably be the end of my gaming, because I'm not sure you can buy a console which is purely offline these days.

    I'm tired of this constant subscription shit, and fundamentally don't trust Microsoft with a network connection any more.

    Connected gaming is just another bullshit source of ads and analytics, and I don't see any value in it.

    1. Re:Nope ... by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      You don't need to be always-online. You just need to be online when you want to download a game. Same as buying a game from Steam.

      (Yes, this applies to Game Pass games too, not just ones you buy.)

      And if you hate Microsoft that much, they're still selling the Xbox S and X, which come with blu-ray drives. You can buy your games at gamestop and never connect it to the internet.

    2. Re:Nope ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And if you hate Microsoft that much, they're still selling the Xbox S and X

      Wow, you're a moron, aren't you?

    3. Re:Nope ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You don't need to be always-online...

      (Yes, this applies to Game Pass games too, not just ones you buy.)

      Oh yeah? You should probably test that out. Take your Xbox One offline and then try to play a game that you only obtained through Game Pass. Make sure it's not one that you may have previously purchased or downloaded when it was free for Gold.

      Then promptly insert foot into pie hole.

    4. Re: Nope ... by Fwipp · · Score: 1

      I followed all your steps, but I got too distracted by playing the videogame to indulge your foot fetish.

  5. Hopefully Sony follows Suit by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

    I've been a PlayStation Plus subscriber for ages, it would be great to have it combined with PlayStation Now. The reason I didn't change from PlayStation Plus is I had a bunch of free games, and I get a discount for having both PSP & PS Vue.

    --
    Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    1. Re:Hopefully Sony follows Suit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you subscribe to PSNow then you can play any of the games from that service online without PSPlus, and all those games include all the DLC. It also costs less to get PS+ and PSNow together than to get a year of Game Pass Ultimate anyway so it's already cheaper

    2. Re:Hopefully Sony follows Suit by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 1

      I have PS Vue, but no Playstation (XBox instead). Vue works fine on the Roku. Wish it would run on the XBox, which offers nothing similar.

      --
      "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
      --- Jerry Garcia
  6. Slow Death Spiral Of The Xbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    With the marketplace failure of the Xbox, Microsoft has been looking for an exit from the console market for years now.

    They have repeatedly tried to find companies to build the hardware with Microsoft pulling in licensing costs similar to how they do now with their desktop OS monopoly. To no one's surprise, there have been no interest in making Xbox console hardware by third parties.

    The Xbox project has barely avoided the axe a couple of times thanks to the billions of dollars in OS and office suite profits like other failed Microsoft products like Bing and Windows Phone.

    But the Xbox project has finally reached its end and the Xbox brand is slowly being killed off or turned into a desktop PC competitor to Steam and/or Google's new game streaming service.

    It is yet to be seen if Windows Gaming or Xbox will end up being the branding but the junk Xbox hardware is going away very soon.

    1. Re: Slow Death Spiral Of The Xbox by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So many lies.

  7. Do they pay you? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It's been MS's modus operandi for years now to pay some people to use their products. MS, if you pay me $15/mo, I am in.

  8. Hopefully you fall down a well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You're a loser in a manchild's body.

    1. Re:Hopefully you fall down a well. by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      You're a loser in a manchild's body.

      Great, now my wife's posting anonymously on Slashdot.

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    2. Re:Hopefully you fall down a well. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kendall isn't wife material, you don't put a ring on unemployed incel. She'll just cheat on you over Xbox Live anyway.

  9. New NES games still being developed by tepples · · Score: 1

    When my XBox 360 dies, that will probably be the end of my gaming, because I'm not sure you can buy a console which is purely offline these days.

    You can buy a RetroUSB AVS or a Retro-Bit Retro Entertainment System. These play nearly all games made for the Family Computer (Famicom) and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), including titles from Broke Studio, Retrotainment, Sly Dog, KHan Games, Spoony Bard, and other indie studios that specialize in new NES games.

  10. Overage by tepples · · Score: 1

    You don't need to be always-online. You just need to be online when you want to download a game. Same as buying a game from Steam.

    It might work in urban areas within the footprint of fiber, cable, and DSL. But users behind a satellite or cellular home Internet with a 10 GB per month quota and a $10 per GB overage fee would find both Xbox purchases just as cost-prohibitive as Steam purchases.

    1. Re:Overage by EvilSS · · Score: 1

      Well then don't buy the disc-less console then. They won't stop selling physical media just yet. Though with sales of physical media already declining for consoles (and virtually dead on PC, with most physical copies moving to just a code in a box) that may not be that way forever. But you have consumers to really blame for that. They are the ones choosing digital convenience over physical ownership.

      --
      I browse on +1 so AC's need not respond, I won't see it.
    2. Re:Overage by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Satellite gives you more like 100GB now. It's hard to hit the cap with ordinary use, given that they throttle video.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  11. That seems really high... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Competing service PsNow has far more games and is only $100/year, and also offers streaming games in addition to downloading them if you want to play on other devices