Xbox Just Made This Game Pass Feature Cheaper
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In an unusual move for a company known for raising the price of its game subscriptions , Microsoft has essentially taken a feature that was previously only available to top-tier Game Pass subscribers and made it available to all Game Pass owners on consoles . It’s still going to take some work to get access to, as the expanded access is technically only available in preview, but it’s still a pretty good deal.
Previously, Xbox Game Pass owners had to sign up for an Ultimate subscription, which cost a whopping $20 a month, to access cloud gaming. Now, Core ($10 a month) and Standard ($15 a month) subscribers can join in.
Given that Xbox owners need at least a Core subscription to play games online, this is bound to expand the cloud gaming user base to a ton of new players. In case you weren’t aware, cloud gaming lets you play games using Microsoft’s servers rather than your own device. If you’re willing to live with a little input lag and visual compression, this is useful for streaming demanding games to a secondary device like your phone or freeing up space on your console. However, it also puts quite a bit of strain on Microsoft’s own data centers—the fact that the company is opening up cloud gaming to so many people likely means it’s done some serious work behind the scenes.
According to Xbox, Core and Standard plan subscribers will be able to play all cloud-compatible games included in their subscription using the feature on console, PC, web browser, and even select smart TVs. Not all games included in Game Pass work in the cloud, but the library of games available in the cloud is hundreds of titles and growing. If your subscription includes the feature, you’ll likely be able to stream them.
As a bonus, the company is also giving Core and Standard subscribers access to some downloadable PC games. This previously required a Game Pass Ultimate subscription or the PC-exclusive Game Pass PC, which costs $12 a month but doesn’t include console games (sadly, it’s not part of this expanding lineup of streaming services). Not every game available on both PC and console will be available this way, but it’s a good sign for playing the same game on different platforms — a big initiative for Xbox lately .
These changes narrow the gap between Xbox Game Pass subscription tiers, but a few Ultimate exclusives are still available, such as the included EA Play subscription and access to Day 1 games. However, if you’re more picky about what games you play, you might want to consider downgrading to a lower Game Pass subscription.
The only caveat? For now, you’ll need to sign up for the Xbox Insider program to get these updates, as they’re technically still in testing. Luckily, signing up is free, so you’ll just need to download the Xbox app on your non-Xbox device or the Xbox Insider Hub app on your Xbox console. Then head to Settings > Account and enable the preview features you want to test.