Microsoft has some big things in store for PC gamers. In the future, gamers will be able to purchase an all-you-can-play subscription service that is very similar to the Xbox all-you-can-download Game Pass. We received this information from Satya Nadella, the CEO. However, there wasn’t an official announcement for the upcoming subscription service.
Nadella mentioned it in an earnings call when she discussed the importance of “increasing the strength of the community” focusing on the Xbox brand. She then added that “obviously, bringing Game Pass to even the PC is going to be a big element of that.”
The Game Pass subscription
The original Game Pass is available only on console and it was launched at the beginning of 2017. There is a 10$ fee and the users get access to more than two hundred games from 11 different studios. It will be quite tricky for Microsoft to bring it on PCs. That is because games available for PC require a different subscription.
This is also a good time to remember about Microsoft’s “Play Anywhere” initiative, one that attempted to bring games that can be bought for both the console and the PC. However, that project didn’t advance too much after they experienced some compatibility issues. Nonetheless, judging by Nadella’s statement, it is very likely that Microsoft managed to overcome them.
If the Game Pass subscription does become a reality for PCs, there is plenty of competition that it will have to face. There are already subscription services such as Humble Monthly, Utomik and Jump and they also come with unlimited access to numerous games for a monthly fee. Nonetheless, Microsoft does have a couple of advantages compared to its rivals, especially since it is a bigger company with strong connections when it comes to third party publishers.
Henry Lares is still early into his career as tech reporter but has already had his work published in many major publications including Tech Crunch and the Huffington Post. In regards to academics, Henry earned an engineering degree from Apex Technical School. Henry has a passion for emerging technology and covers upcoming products and breakthroughs in science and tech.