Earlier this year, rumors started to spread of a very big potential addition to Xbox Game Pass. As it turned out, EA's premium game subscription "EA Play" came to Xbox Game Pass at no additional cost. Further verifying that Xbox Game Pass truly is one of the best value propositions for playing games, adding new and existing EA games to the service further boosted the selection of static games on the service. For 2021, a similar rumor is brewing about another game company potentially partnering with Xbox Game Pass to deliver an even larger boost to the subscription's library: Ubisoft.
Like EA Play, Ubisoft has its own premium games subscription known as "Ubisoft+" that delivers an even larger backlog. Ubisoft+ has over 100 games from the publisher's biggest franchises, some of which have been around for decades now. Supposedly, all or most of the Ubisoft+ subscription's offering could be added to Xbox Game Pass at some point in 2021. If this rumor is true, the already-huge library of Xbox Game Pass is going to surpass its current count to well over 600 different games with Ubisoft+. That's an even greater boost to Xbox Game Pass, which has already garnered a reputation of being a very good deal for gaming enthusiasts.
Potentially All the Biggest Ubisoft Games on Xbox Game Pass
This has been a relatively quiet rumor that's circulated for a while regarding Ubisoft+, but it seems to have resurfaced thanks to a blog post on Xbox Worlds. Discussing the top ten biggest rumors regarding Xbox, one of the points was that "Uplay" (the former name for Ubisoft Connect) would join Xbox Game Pass in late-2021. Normally, that would've just been conjecture based on rumors, but it seems Windows Central senior editor Jez Corden thinks this rumor is true. According to hearsay, Corden believes that there's a strong possibility but also noted that it could potentially only be a portion of the content in Ubisoft+ instead of the whole library.
Regardless, even if it's just a portion of the Ubisoft+ library, Ubisoft's premium subscription service houses over 100 titles from the publisher. Franchises like Assassin's Creed, Far Cry, Splinter Cell, Rainbow Six, The Division, Ghost Recon, Watch Dogs, the Crew, and a ton of other Ubisoft franchises. That's not even counting any other franchises, both large and small, under the Ubisoft publishing umbrella. Key standouts would be games like Rainbow Six Siege, which would make entry into RB6 esports more approachable than ever. Or the niche adventure in Beyond Good & Evil could potentially get more exposure, now that the Beyond Good & Evil 2 is on the way.
Piecemeal or All-In, Ubisoft+ On Game Pass is Still Huge
Those are just a few titles and franchises in the surprisingly large catalogue of games in Ubisoft+. Even if Xbox Game Pass only gets a selection of these titles, that still would mean some of the publisher's biggest franchises like Assassin's Creed or Far Cry would be shoe-ins. That's huge for a service that's already boasted hundreds of different games from a variety of different places. Pair Ubisoft+ with the selection offered with EA Play, and Xbox Game Pass becomes an exceedingly better value. There's also the possibility that Ubisoft+ takes a similar approach to its subscription on Amazon Luna, where the addition to Game Pass is a slightly cheaper add-on price.
Or Ubisoft potentially goes all-in just like EA, and the entire library becomes eligible to play by Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Many figure that if EA was willing to place the entirety of its EA Play library on Xbox Game Pass, then Ubisoft could certainly do the same with Ubisoft+. It's hard to say for certain, and the userbase for Ubisoft+ currently would probably be the biggest deciding factor for what games are added to Xbox Game Pass. Regardless, both companies stand to succeed here, assuming the rumor is true. As has been repeated throughout the industry, it's as if Xbox Game Pass can only get better as time goes on.
Yet Another Compelling Reason to Consider Xbox Game Pass
In fact, it's shocking that the subscription hasn't had price/rate change since the service's inception in 2017. Xbox Game Pass already boasts almost 500 games across Xbox consoles and PC, so adding another 100 Ubisoft games to that library makes the Game Pass value proposition incredibly enticing. It'd be interesting to see the reaction from subscribers if, as a result of Ubisoft+ being added, Xbox Game Pass raised subscription prices. In a similar scenario, when Netflix had upped its subscription prices on most plans, subscriber pushback was vocal but it never amounted to severe backlash. More games is never a bad thing, but a price hike could sway that notion.
Either way, Xbox Game Pass could have an even more commanding presence in the industry if Ubisoft+ is indeed added to Xbox Game Pass. Theoretically, that means new Bethesda games, new EA games, and new Ubisoft games could all come to Xbox Game Pass day-and-date of release. That's a ton of savings for players if they intend to play the latest Assassin's Creed, Battlefield, or Elder Scrolls games on release. Xbox Game Pass could once again prove its value in 2021 with Ubisoft in tow.