While it’s hard to argue that Sony’s nailed down the win for exclusive games with the PlayStation 4 – God of War and Spider-Man in one year? Dang – Microsoft has been hard at work trying to make gaming more accessible and more affordable. Part of that has been Microsoft’s $10/monthly Xbox Game Pass, a Netflix-style service that puts a whole bunch of games under one simple and digestible price. And now that service has over 200 titles.
For just $120 a year (or $100 if you pay for it at once), it’s possible to get access to thousands of dollars of games, with instant access to any game Microsoft publishes, from indie stuff like Ori and the Will O’ The Wisp to big anticipated titles like Crackdown 3.
It’s hard not to sound like I’m providing free marketing for this service, because it really is such a great deal for anyone who owns an Xbox. Here’s a small nugget of what’s out there:
- Forza Horizon 4
- DOOM
- Hitman (season 1)
- Halo: the Master Chief Collection
- The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Xbox 360) (and
- Ninja Gaiden Black (original Xbox)
- Sunset Overdrive
- Viva Pinata (Xbox 360)
- Just about every Gears of War game
- Mass Effect
And that’s literally not even 1% of what’s on there. It’s the best deal in gaming. At this point, I’d almost call Game Pass even more obligatory for an Xbox owner than Xbox Live. There’s too much to play, and the only thing really limiting you is your download speed.
Right now, I’m playing OlliOlli 2XL and DOOM, despite having played the latter through on PlayStation and PC already, multiple times.
Gaming is an expensive hobby if you make it, but with the Xbox One being pretty inexpensive already and Xbox Game Pass asking the price of two new games, Microsoft is proving that it doesn’t have to be prohibitively costly to play more than just free-to-play games. Microsoft might offer the best bang-for-your-buck of any gaming option on Black Friday this year.
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