Yesterday, players began speculating when the official Xbox Game Pass Twitter account tweeted an image of characters from The Mandalorian characters. Many were quick to assume that the image was a teaser for a collaboration between Xbox Game Pass and Disney Plus. Xbox has now confirmed these assumptions, as it announced its new partnership with Disney Plus.
Players that have an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription are now also eligible for a free 30-day trial of Disney Plus. This was announced via a trailer on the official Xbox YouTube account, which focused primarily on The Mandalorian. The Mandalorian has been a massive hit for Disney Plus and recently airing its second season on October 30.
While an additional perk for the ever-growing Xbox Game Pass may be exciting for players, there is a small caveat that comes with this announcement. According to the trailer's description, players must claim this offer by January 31, 2021. With this cut-off date is still a ways off, players will likely want to jump on the deal before it goes away for good.
Disney Plus is one of many subscription-based services that have offered trial periods to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Recently, anime streaming platform Funimation announced that Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would be receiving a two-month free trial of Funimation Premium Plus. This membership would normally run players $8 per month, and includes perks like downloading shows and movie for offline viewing, as well as free shipping on the Funimation Shop for orders over $20.
It should be noted that while Xbox has been slowly adding to Game Pass Ultimate's value outside of gaming, that doesn't mean it has lost focus on its primary goal of offering a wide variety of games. Starting this week, subscribers can receive an EA Play membership at no additional cost, allowing them to play titles like Titanfall 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.
While players seem to be benefiting greatly from subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, some developers remain skeptical of the business model's longevity. Recently, Take-Two Interactive President Karl Slatoff said he felt skeptical that "subscriptions will be the only way...that interactive entertainment is distributed." While Slatoff is likely correct that services like Xbox Game Pass won't be the only way to acquire games, it does seem like it might be a step in the right direction towards getting more games in players' hands.