Xbox Rebrands Its Online Multiplayer Subscription Service as ‘Game Pass Core’
Microsoft’s longstanding Xbox Live Gold subscription service is being replaced by Xbox Game Pass Core. The new service launches Sept. 14 and will cost $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year.
Though the new service has the same pricing model as Xbox Live Gold and is built around the same core feature (allowing players to access online multiplayer in their games), it differs in terms of the supplementary games it comes with. While Xbox Live Gold refreshed the games included with its service on a monthly basis, this rebranded service, Xbox Game Pass Core, will feature a set launch roster of over 25 titles. From there, “new titles will be added 2-3 times a year,” according to Microsoft.
Microsoft representatives did not respond to TheWrap’s request for comment regarding how many titles would be included in each of these roster updates.
Microsoft announced 19 of Game Pass Core’s launch titles. They are “Among Us,” “Descenders,” “Dishonored 2,” Doom Eternal,” “Fable Anniversary,” “Fallout 4,” “Fallout 76,” “Forza Horizon 4,” “Gears 5,” “Grounded,” “Halo 5: Guardians,” “Halo Wars 2,” “Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice,” “Human Fall Flat,” “Inside,” “Ori & The Will of the Wisps,” “Psychonauts 2,” “State of Decay 2” and “The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.”
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Microsoft noted that the game library may vary by country and that the lineup could change as time goes on.
Existing Xbox Live Gold subscribers will be automatically converted to the new service when it arrives.
This new service, Xbox Game Pass Core, should not be confused with Xbox Game Pass for consoles, which costs $10.99 (not $9.99) per month and does not feature online multiplayer access for games. The latter service’s selling point is that it grants access to the entire Game Pass library rather than just a little over two dozen titles. If you want access to Game Pass in its entirety as well as online multiplayer access, you’ll need Game Pass Ultimate, which runs $16.99 per month.
Microsoft’s rebranding of Xbox Live Gold highlights its focus on shaping plans around Game Pass, a unified front for its subscription endeavors. Said subscriptions are Microsoft’s primary gaming business focus, as the company has admitted it’s not going to outpace Sony in a traditional “sell consoles, sell copies of games” race and therefore is approaching the market from a different angle.
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