Microsoft, like so many other companies, is moving in the way offering subscription services. For a while, Microsoft was offering some of its most popular services – Office 365, Xbox Live, Xbox Music, and Skype Unlimited World – as a discounted bundle known as the Work & Play bundle, and now it’s bringing that deal back, offering an subscription to all four for $149 for a year. That’s $50 below the $199 price that Microsoft offered this bundle of services at last time.
If one were to purchase all of the services individually, the cost would be quite a bit higher. Xbox Live goes for $59.99 for a year, Xbox Music Pass costs $99.90, Office 365 costs $119.88 a year, and Skype tops out the charts at $153.89 for 365 days. That brings the grand total, if purchased separately, to $433.66. For those who actually need all four, or even three of the services, the current deal offered by Microsoft is pretty strong.
Xbox Live is the service required to play games online on Xbox One and Xbox 360, Skype Unlimited World gives users unlimited calls using Microsoft’s VOIP service, Office 365 grants access to Word, Excel, and other Office apps, and Xbox Music Pass is a Spotify clone that lets users stream and download unlimited music on tablets, phones, game consoles, and so on.
A major drawback of this bundle when it was offered the first time was that it was only available in Microsoft Stores, which left a lot of potential buyers out, but this time, Microsoft is offering it online, which opens up the ability for users who are not near Microsoft stores to get their hands on it.
Microsoft is touting this as a limited time offer, though the company didn’t cite an actual timeframe. Still, for users who think this deal meets their needs, it’s probably best to jump on it while it’s still available.
