Starting with this week's update, Xbox owners are now able to pre-load certain Xbox Game Pass games to the Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S before they launch on the ever-popular subscription service.
Part of a new dashboard update that also adds some new key features to the family of consoles, the pre-load addition will make it easier for fans to start a game as soon as it arrives on the service, rather than wait for any installs or updates.
Pre-loading isn't the only feature included in the update. It also adds a new badge on the dashboard that indicates if a game is taking advantage of HDR or if a game is optimized to take advantage of the new line of Xbox consoles. Players will also notice more dynamic Xbox backgrounds, a feature that launched earlier this month, with some backgrounds paying respect to the history of the Xbox brand.
The ability to pre-load Xbox Game Pass games is yet another reason why the service remains one of the most popular. Xbox Game Pass continues to deliver an abundance of games every month. The recent collaboration with EA brought EA Play to Xbox Game Pass and added a huge library of EA games including Respawn Entertainment's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
Microsoft's push of Xbox Game Pass has helped the company improve the Xbox branding all-around. The service has made such an impact that Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan has stated that there will be news to come regarding Sony's plan to counter Xbox Game Pass in addition to the current PS5 PlayStation Plus benefits.
For those interested, several retailers still have Cyber Monday sales going on for Xbox Game Pass, with some significant savings on the service, making it an easier buy for those newbies curious about the service or those looking to extend a current subscription. In addition, fans can find some savings on certain games on the Xbox Games Store, though the current sale is only for a limited time.
Meanwhile, the Xbox Game Pass official Twitter account is currently teasing a new addition to the service by tweeting an image of a "leaked" email hinting at what that game could be. The email features a red redacted portion hiding the game name, which some are taking to mean that Control is making its way to the service. If/when it does, subscribers will hopefully be able to pre-load Control ahead of time.