Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. News

E3 2019: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass PC go live ahead of Xbox briefing

Matthew S. Smith
By
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Microsoft has made two Xbox-related announcements ahead of its E3 2019 Xbox press conference; Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass PC. Both were revealed several months ago, but we now know final pricing — and you can subscribe today.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the much-desired bundle for Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass, combining them for a single $14.99 monthly subscription. Subscribing to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will save you five dollars over subscribing to each individually if you pay monthly.

Recommended Videos

Microsoft has sweetened the deal with an alluring price it previously offered for other Xbox Live and Game Pass services: A $1 introductory subscription. New subscribers can enjoy one month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just one buck.

Related

What if you’re already subscribed to either Xbox Game Pass or Xbox Live? Microsoft will credit your existing months of subscription for both. If you have three months of Xbox Game Pass, and three months of Xbox Live, you’ll be credited six months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate when you make the upgrade. There’s limit of 36 months on this credit.

While Xbox Game Pass Ultimate targets gamers with an Xbox console, Microsoft has recently broadened its ambitions to PC games. The Xbox Game Pass previously offered some cross-play titles available on PC, but many games weren’t accessible on PC. To clarify that, and make Game Pass more appealing on PC, a new Xbox Game Pass PC — announced earlier this year — has been released.

It does what it says on the tin. Xbox Game Pass PC offers access only to the Game Pass titles that will play on PC. Here’s the good part. It’s less expensive at just $9.99 per month. And once again, new subscribers will pay just one dollar for their first month.

PC gamers, beware. The games you probably want to play most, like Halo Master Chief Collection and Gears of War 5, aren’t available yet. The pickings are slim right now — the standout titles include Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, and Forza Horizon 4. You might want to hold out until Halo arrives.

Oh, and remember. It’s only available on Windows 10.

These announcements shore up the weaknesses and oddities in Microsoft’s Xbox subscription plans. The company is clearly going all-in on the ‘Netflix for games’ idea, and these subscription changes will make that pitch a lot more palatable for both Xbox and PC gamers.

Both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass for PC are available now.

Want to know more about E3 2019? Follow our E3 coverage for the latest as it happens.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Matthew S. Smith
Matthew S. Smith
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Matthew S. Smith is the former Lead Editor, Reviews at Digital Trends. He previously guided the Products Team, which dives…
Xbox games on PS5? It’s not as shocking as you think
Key art for Starfield

It's been a busy few weeks for console war soldiers.

Tensions spiked last month when "Nate the Hate," an industry insider with a decent track record, claimed that Hi-Fi Rush was headed to Nintendo Switch. The rumor sparked some mixed feelings among Xbox fans, some of whom expressed dismay over one of the console's system-selling exclusives coming to another platform. Other reports at the time claimed that Rare's Sea of Thieves could also be bound for PlayStation and Switch. That rising anger came to a head this weekend when XboxEra reported that Xbox is planning to launch its biggest exclusive, Starfield, on PS5.

Read more
Try one of gaming’s best trilogies before it leaves Xbox Game Pass next week
Hitman 3 Dubai level.

Xbox Game Pass might not be losing a lot of games at the end of January, but the most significant loss is a big one. On January 31, the subscription service is losing Hitman: World of Assassination, which is one of the best stealth gaming experiences out there. Technically, it is a collection of three games’ worth of content, plus an excellent roguelike mode.

Few games can make you feel as clever or as idiotic as IO Interactive’s Hitman games, so World of Assassination is a must-play if you enjoy stealth gameplay and want to see those mechanics explored to their fullest. While the base games are short enough to blaze through in a few sittings, there's way more content here than you could reasonably get through in a week. You better get cracking if you want to try it without paying for the full package.

Read more
You need to try this new, adrenaline-fueled Xbox Game Pass highlight
A ball zips up a ramp in Go Mecha Ball.

It's going to be a busy year for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The subscription service is expected to get an influx of high-profile games in 2024. Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 and Avowed are leading the charge, and there's a good chance that we'll see a lot of Activision Blizzard games on the service soon. What's always more exciting to me, though, are the games I've never heard of. Some of my favorite Game Pass titles over the year have been left-field indies that I learned about the very day they launched. Call them pleasant surprises.

Xbox Game Pass is already getting one of those games this week. Go Mecha Ball is a new roguelike, twin-stick shooter hybrid that launches on January 25 for both PC and Xbox Game Pass. It's a wildly creative little action game that makes it the kind of Game Pass curiosity that keeps me subscribed to the service.

Read more