Xbox Game Pass: the new dream for gamers, a new headache for Sony - TechnoTron

Posted by: TechnoTron 2/28/2017

Source: Xataka

It was all a Boom. It is that neither the most exceptional nor anyone would have expected today's announcement from Microsoft, but the company has once again come to surprise with the launch of its Xbox Game Pass service, which is basically the Netflix of video games of the Xbox One.

So far only Electronic Arts has offered something similar with its EA Access on consoles, but Microsoft managers now offer a wider catalog of more than 100 games for Xbox One and Xbox 360 that you can download and play everything you want with a subscription Monthly of $ 10 per month. In Sony should be pulling their hair, it should not have been very funny this announcement of Xbox.

The Netflix of video games

The proposals to strengthen the online platform for Xbox games continue to grow, and this is of course a whole bump in the table by Microsoft, which has introduced this platform and is already available to members of the Xbox Insider program and will be available For all users "this spring".

Comparisons with subscription services such as Netflix are inevitable, and although the catalog is obviously much more limited, it is also true that the time you spend on a video game is usually much longer than the one you dedicate to a series (depends on the number of seasons , Of course) or a movie. In the end the important thing is this: one has flat rate to play all the games of that catalog.

Obviously there will be a lot of AAA titles in the offer that will not be available during the post-launch periods, but they will be arriving at the service (and disappearing from it, the offer will change gradually), thus forming a catalog without having "the last Of the latest "if you will enjoy many more or less recent titles.

We have fantastic examples like 'Halo 5 Guardians',' Mad Max ', Fable-iii', 'Tekken Tag Tournament 2', but there will be other equally striking ones that will surely satisfy the tastes of many users. It may not be the latest versions - 'NBA2K16' appeared a year and a half ago, for example - but that will not prevent its users from enjoying them.

A nearly perfect subscription model

The idea of Microsoft has a promising aspect not only by offer and price, but also by operation. As pointed out by our companions VidaExtra, we will not play via streaming, but we will download the game to the hard disk of the console so that the data connection is fully exploited for potential online matches.

The operation will be similar to the 'Games with Gold' program that allows Xbox Live Gold users to enjoy two video games a month free by downloading them to their console. These games are no longer playable if we are no longer subscribers of Xbox Live Gold, and likewise the games that we download with Xbox Game Pass can not be played if we have dropped the service.

These options are joined by another equally attractive: we can buy any of the Xbox Game Pass games with a 20% discount if we are subscribers of the service, something that can be another trigger for the sales of video games to grow. It is a "test, and if you like to buy it" but raised to maximum power.

Microsoft has not specified some details about the offer, and for example we would like to know if there will be a special price for annual subscriptions. Even more interesting would be a "family pass" option (Netflix and Spotify offer plans of this type) that also offered a promotion price for two subscriptions between members of the same family, something that actually exists on the Xbox One with the so-called "My home Xbox". As confirmed by those responsible for Microsoft at GamesRadar, this subscription can be enjoyed with that option too, but we wonder if there will be an extension of those "family plans."

There are also doubts about the possibility that this option is also available to the PC now that both platforms are starting to converge with Xbox Play Anywhere. A capture of a user of the Xbox Insider program seems to point to that option, although we assume that the catalog will be different and smaller ... or just different, who knows. Many unknowns yet to be clarified.

Subscriptions are not for everyone, but for many

The decision of Microsoft is really significant because it validates a subscription model that is increasingly imposed in all fields, both in the world of multimedia content -Netflix and Spotify are the two classic examples - as in the software, where Microsoft has long migrated from a "box" model to a subscription model with Office 365, for example.

Best of all, Xbox Game Pass is a new alternative that will not disappear the traditional model: games can continue to buy and download without this subscription if we do not spend our time more than one or two titles - it is my case, But if you want to try and enjoy many games and maybe buy some of them, even if something older, you can do it with Xbox Game Pass.

The ball is now on the roof of Sony, whose online service PS Now is now behind in its offer and benefits. Although the availability of the service on both the PS4 and PC is flashy, playing in streaming is not so much. Or Sony reacts soon and well, or this new offer may serve to convince the undecided to move to the Redmond platform.

Good play, Microsoft, good move.