A cheaper ad-supported Xbox Game Pass is supposedly being considered
by Danny Craig · Updated 1/11/23, 10:54 AM
Microsoft
A new ad-supported tier of Microsoft’s successful Xbox Game Pass service could be coming in the future, with some restrictions.
The details:
- Microsoft recently sent out a survey to existing Game Pass customers in Europe, with a screenshot of the survey being posted by a ResetEra user. Customers were asked to consider two hypothetical subscriptions, one of which was the now-available family plan and the other a lower-cost tier.
- The cheaper tier is priced at just €3 per month, with the most notable difference being that users will need to watch ads before launching any games provided through Game Pass.
- Subscribers will also be unable to stream games from the cloud to other devices. All games will require downloads to either an Xbox console or PC and new day-one titles will only be available six months after their initial release.
- It’s not guaranteed that the new tier will ever be implemented; however, it could be a good way for Microsoft to attract people who are unable to justify purchasing the standard tier.
What else is happening at Microsoft/Xbox?
- The Federal Trade Commission has announced that it has voted to try and block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision-Blizzard on December 8 due to causing potential harm to competition amongst console manufacturers. There’s more to come on this, we’re sure.
- Bethesda, a subsidiary of Microsoft, is currently working on the brand-new RPG “Starfield”, which is set to be released in 2023, with its development team providing some insight into what's to come. MachineGames, another studio under Zenimax, is working on a new Indiana Jones game that will be a standalone title from the pre-existing movie franchise.
- Game Pass is losing some games during December, with one of the top 10 most downloaded games, Dragon Quest XI, already off the roster as of December 15. Fan favourites Outer Wilds and Scarlet Nexus are due to leave the service on December 31, with LEGO Star Wars and the last entry of Telltale’s The Walking Dead being added.
