Xbox Game Pass now gives access to Xbox exclusives on launch day

Image: microsoft

Microsoft is upping its game on the Xbox Game Pass service, which will now give subscribers the ability to play Xbox One-exclusive games the day they release at no extra charge.

Xbox Game Pass subscribers will now get access to exclusive Xbox games at launch starting with Sea of Thieves on March 20, Microsoft announced Tuesday. Microsoft's $9.99 a month service will also include launch-day accessibility of future titles Crackdown 3 and State of Decay 2, the announcement video revealed.

Along with these game, subscribers can expect the same kind of launch-day accessibility for Xbox staples like Halo, Forza, and Gears of War, Microsoft's head of gaming Phil Spencer told The Verge. This also happened to be the first mention of a new Gears of War game, which would be the fifth in the series.

This announcement basically makes the Xbox Game Pass a must for Xbox One owners who buy more than two or three games per year. For the cost of two full-priced games, Xbox owners can have access to every new exclusive game the day it comes out, plus the ability to play over a hundred other Xbox games from the past several years.

Xbox Game Pass first launched in June and has been steadily adding to its list of offerings, making games like Halo 5, Borderlands, Spelunky, and entire series including Bioshock and Gears of War available to play on the latest Xbox consoles.

The service may also be an attractive selling point for prospective Xbox owners who can catch up on games they may have missed and play new games for a pretty low monthly fee.

The move toward making more games available through a subscription like this could be the start of an industry shift in how players pay to play games. Xbox Game Pass follows the lead of movie and TV streaming services like Netflix and Hulu, which have their own exclusive offerings available to anyone who pays a monthly fee.

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