What is considered by many to be one of the greatest deals in gaming, Xbox Game Pass, is getting potentially even better with the addition of some full seasons of anime included as a part of Xbox Game Pass Perks.
Already Xbox Game Pass has branched out beyond the realm of games when it included a free 30-day trial for Disney+, an offer that expires on January 31, 2021. This also isn’t the first time Microsoft has offered anime-related content, as the company offered two free months of Funimation Premium Plus for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in September of last year.
Microsoft’s Major Nelson announced on Twitter that the full first seasons of Dragon Ball Super and One Piece will be free for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in celebration of Microsoft’s annual February anime sale. These two seasons, each of which are 13 episodes, are free to keep even if someone unsubscribes from Xbox Game Pass. The current offer lasts until March 1, 2021.
One Piece, for those unfamiliar, is the immensely popular and long-running shonen anime chronicling the adventures of Monkey D. Luffy and his band of lovable pirates on a quest to find the titular One Piece treasure. Dragon Ball Super is a sequel to the beloved 90s anime Dragon Ball Z, further chronicling the story of franchise hero Goku.
The new set of perks also includes a Season 8 Starter Pass for SMITE, which includes two exclusive skins. Other new additions to Game Pass include the new next-gen exclusive horror game The Medium, which Game Rant gave a 4 out of 5 in its recent review, calling it, “Bloober Team's best game yet.” Cyber Shadow, a new game published by Shovel Knight creators Yacht Club Games, is also now available on Game Pass. Game Rant gave it a 4.5 out of 5, and called it a game that, “Should not be missed out on.”
It was revealed this week that more than 18 million people are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass during Microsoft’s earning conference call. While Game Pass has been a major success for Microsoft, that same conference call revealed that Microsoft has 100 million Xbox Live monthly active users.
Clearly Microsoft wants to convert more players to Game Pass Ultimate, as evidenced by its move to try to increase the price of Xbox Live in order to seemingly encourage them to sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. That move was met with backlash however, and Microsoft backed out of the decision and apologized.