The Xbox Game Pass rumors keep on rolling, with the latest rumor suggesting that Xbox is looking to add another subscription package to the service. Doing so would add another 100+ games to the value-friendly service, but raises questions of pricing among many gamers.
Back in the summer of 2018, Xbox made a statement by adding 5 new first-party studios at its E3 press conference that year. This not only meant new exclusive titles for the platform, but more games from these studios were being made available on Game Pass. 20 games from Bethesda were also recently brought to Game Pass following the Xbox acquisition of ZeniMax Media. Microsoft continues in its quest to add games to its popular subscription service, and industry insider Jeff Grubb has suggested Ubisoft may be the next in line.
This does not mean Microsoft is looking to buy Ubisoft; it means Xbox might be adding Ubisoft+ to Game Pass. For those who don’t know, Ubisoft+ is a subscription very much like Game Pass, where subscribers pay a monthly fee for unlimited access to Ubisoft’s catalog of games. Formerly known as Uplay Plus, this service hosts over 100 games, which would dramatically increase the number of available titles in Game Pass, should the rumors prove to be true.
This move would not be unprecedented; Xbox added EA Play to Game Pass Ultimate in September of 2020. The subscription service from Electronic Arts added a lot of value to Game Pass with games, demos, and other perks on console and eventually PC. The industry expects the addition of Ubisoft+ to work much the same way, though concerns about pricing have been dividing the players on the issue.
At time of writing, the standard Game Pass subscription costs $9.99 per month, while Game Pass Ultimate charges $14.99 per month. The Ultimate subscription includes Xbox Live Gold, Game Pass for Console and PC, as well as access to EA Play. In terms of content-per-dollar, Xbox Game Pass is arguably the best deal in the gaming industry today. But all this value has many players beginning to wonder where the value/price breaking point lies; with all these additions to the service, when will Xbox increase the price of Game Pass?
Players do not have a good answer to that question as of yet, and the addition of Ubisoft+ to Game Pass is still only a rumor at this time. What is clear, however, is Microsoft’s goal of pushing all consumers toward the service. With the first month costing only a single dollar and marketing campaigns featuring the Falcon playing Game Pass, Xbox appears to be betting that its subscription model is the way of the future.
Source: PureXbox