Microsoft Celebrates One Year of Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft Celebrates One Year of Xbox Game Pass

Microsoft today is celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Xbox Game Pass, which has emerged as a major differentiator for its game platform.

“From the very outset, our goal with Xbox Game Pass has been to provide you with more value and choice by delivering a diverse library of games reflective of the long history of Xbox, as well as create new opportunities for our industry partners that make a positive impact,” Microsoft’s Ashley Speicher writes. “Thanks to you, this last year has been remarkable. We’ve been humbled by your enthusiasm and support.”

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Microsoft notes the following milestones for Xbox Game Pass this past year.

  • Xbox Game Pass is now supported in 40 markets around the globe.
  • In response to fan requests for more AAA titles, Microsoft announced in January that all new Xbox games from Microsoft Studios would appear in Xbox Game Pass on the same day as their global launch.
  • Two of those AAA launch title games, Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2, are Xbox Play Anywhere titles that have performed particularly well. The former saw over 2 million players within its first week of release. And the latter hit one million in the same time frame.
  • Game Pass members spend more time playing games than before. This includes games in the Game Pass catalog and other Xbox games outside the catalog as well, Microsoft says.

“We have a long-term commitment and belief in making subscriptions a model that benefits gamers with more choice and game creators with more opportunity,” Speicher concludes. “We will continue to invest in this space. We look forward to further evolving Xbox Game Pass by bringing even more great games in the year ahead to continue to meet the needs of gamers and game developers.”

As far as I’m concerned, Xbox Game Pass is one of the major advantages of the Xbox platform. And it’s getting interesting with more new Xbox Play Anywhere titles being added as well, opening up the service to those who wish to game on Windows 10 PCs as well.

 

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Conversation 6 comments

  • PeteB

    01 June, 2018 - 12:11 pm

    <p>I really hope they finally address their firstparty problem at E3, because it's been barren in the exclusives department while Sony pumps out blockbuster system sellers monthly.</p>

  • Illusive_Man

    01 June, 2018 - 1:24 pm

    <ul><li>In response to fan requests for more AAA titles, Microsoft announced in January that all new Xbox games from Microsoft Studios would appear in Xbox Game Pass on the same day as their global launch.</li></ul><p><br></p><p><br></p><p>The problem is games from Microsoft Studios are lacking outside of the studios that work on Halo/Gears/Forza. Examples like Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2 are interesting…does that mean 1- 2 million users bought a monthly subscription to Gamepass…or were they trials? I don’t get the sense, especially with the tepid reception for both, that many people are buying full priced retail copies. I for one wouldn’t bother with either one of those titles.</p><p><br></p><p>Meanwhile God of War continues its winning streak as one of the number 1 titles in the world, it is also set to be the fastest video game to reach 1 billion views on YouTube. </p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft can repeat these vague numbers but it doesn’t seem like the majority of gaming audiences actually take Xbox seriously. I miss the leadership under J Allard.</p>

    • TechnologyTemperance

      01 June, 2018 - 3:21 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#280380"><em>In reply to Illusive_Man:</em></a></blockquote><p>MSFT really hurt themselves with the "always connected" requirement, slower RAM, and Kinect with the original Xbox One announcements/rumors/etc…. The "influencers" turned against it quickly.</p>

  • GlenKilgore

    01 June, 2018 - 8:16 pm

    <p>Just got an XBox. Having gone with the Gold subscription, it seems to be underwhelming. A better choice may have been the Game Pass. Microsoft may do better to combine both services into one.</p>

    • bryan1up

      Premium Member
      02 June, 2018 - 12:42 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#280449"><em>In reply to GlenKilgore:</em></a></blockquote><p>One has nothing to do with the other. The gold subscription just allows you to play online. You get a couple free games a month if you’re a gold member also. On the other hand, game pass is a Netflix like subscription but for games (and it’s not streaming). </p>

  • brock1234

    05 July, 2018 - 6:03 am

    <p>That is very simple to use and connected to a window 10,now the this time to enjoy all of the great new features,microsoft offered this features <a href="http://windowstuts.net/remote-desktop-connection&quot; target="_blank">remote desktop connection manager windows 10</a> remote desktop developed by window,i am here and looking the best solution and easily to rdp connection windows 10.<span style="color: rgb(34, 34, 34);">&nbsp;</span></p>

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