Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass subscription is as close as possible to “Netflix for games”. And juLike Netflix, there are ways to get the maximum return on your investment. Here are some tips for getting everything you can out of a Game Pass subscription.
Consider betting on Ultimate.
Like many other media subscriptions, the Game Pass is available at several levels. The standard level is $ 10 per month, which gives you access to the Game Pass library and not much else. The PC version – which has its own library full of many overlapping games, but some exclusive ones, like Crusader Kings III– is also $ 10, although it cost $ 5 when it was in beta earlier this year.
For $ 15 a month, you can get the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which gives you access to the console and PC Game Pass libraries. You also get a subscription to Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft’s online service, which offers four extra games per month through Games with gold program. Ultimate members can also stream games directly for Android devices (and, Next year, iOS too). Starting in November, Ultimate comes bundled with EA Play, an on-demand game service full of EA video games and sports ads. Game Pass Ultimate is also starting to include first-party expansions at no extra cost, an advantage not available to standard tier members.
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It is clear that Microsoft wants to direct subscribers to the highest price level. For now, pending a serious increase in the price of etiquette, mathematics works to justify the jump – in most cases. Switching from basic level to Ultimate is worth it if …
- You plan to pay the full price for three Xbox support games in one year.
- You plan to purchase the console and PC Game Pass subscriptions.
- You plan to subscribe to at least two of the following: Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold or EA Play.
The $ 15 monthly price can be daunting, especially in an age of subscription fatigue, but there are some methods to alleviate the cost. To start, your first three months currently they only cost one dollar (total), although, once expired, Microsoft automatically charges your card for a monthly renewal at a higher rate. Canceling game pass will not delete your saved data for all the games you played with the service. You can continue any game exactly where you left off by purchasing the game, both physically and digitally, or by re-signing the Game Pass.
Digital retailers sometimes offer three-month or one-year cards for Ultimate that add up to less than the total cost. You can also convert codes for other Microsoft subscriptions in Ultimate months, as long as you are already an Ultimate member, which can slightly reduce the cost. Say you’re sitting on a code for one year of Xbox Live Gold. You can redeem it for four months of Game Pass Ultimate. (Here is a complete list exactly how many months of Ultimate your codes will focus on.)
Finally, consider finding a friend who plays on the PC – someone you trust – and sharing the cost. At the moment, the PC player has the tip of the stick, since EA Play has not yet been included in the PC library. (It will happen sometime next year.) Certainly, you and your friend can do a fair split, and you can both play at the same time with the same account, as long as you are not trying to play, say, areola multiplayer.
Of course, play the hits …
The main advantage of Game Pass is that you can play great games without having to use GameStop or handing over money to the Bezos empire. Original games, like Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds, land on the first day of service. Planned for next year Halo Infinite go, too. If you want to play all the biggest Xbox games at launch without spending $ 60 each, Game Pass is the best way to do it. Great third party games like To control, Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, and Tales of Vesperia– come in and out of the library all the time too.
Many of Microsoft’s original games have been optimized for the Xbox Series X and S, allowing for faster loading speeds, higher frame rates and sharper resolutions. And those with compatible monitors can benefit from 120fps modes for Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Gears 5, and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The Game Pass is as good an excuse as any to repeat old games or to check them out for the first time.
… but don’t sleep on indie jewelry.
As good as the Game Pass is to mark access to great games, it’s even better to discover the minors. For each Forza or areola or third-party blockbuster, there’s a gem off the radar that you wouldn’t otherwise have looked at twice. The following dozen, if you missed them, at least it’s worth checking out:
Most of the best games on the Game Pass are relatively small – a handful of gigabytes at most, and generally less than 1 GB – so even those with restricted data limits can download them with little repercussion. If you’re just scanning the surface and playing the biggest hits, you’re missing out on a lot of amazing games.
Filter the libraries.
Since there are hundreds of games in the library, scrolling in alphabetical order can be tedious. But you can narrow it down with some useful filters. All you need to do is access the Game Pass through “My games and apps”, instead of the standard Game Pass panel icon. In “My games and apps”, if you scroll to “complete library”, you should see two blocks: one for Xbox Game Pass and one for EA Play. Viewing the library through them allows for robust categorization options that are not available in the standard Game Pass console app. However, you will have to see the EA Play and Game Pass libraries separately, instead of the treasure you will find in the Game Pass app.
In the top row, you’ll see an icon that looks like an inverted high school science class funnel. Clicking on it allows you to filter by genre (platform, shooting game, RPG, and so on), console (Xbox and Xbox 360 games, Xbox One games or state-of-the-art “optimized” games) and multiplayer features (online or local, cooperative or competitive). If you simply want to use the Game Pass to check all games renewed with state-of-the-art updates, you can do so. If you prefer to see which puzzle games offer local co-op, you can do that too.
Pre-loading games.
In some cases, the Game Pass allows you to preload the next high level games. Now, for example, you can pre-install The medium. After a delay, Bloober Team’s future multidimensional nightmare won’t arrive on the Game Pass until January 28, 2021, but you can download 38 GB out of the way now.
Get some rechargeable AA batteries.
Xbox controllers still uses AA batteries, so this is never a bad idea.