"Play It Day One on Xbox Game Pass"

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Author

Robert Scarpinito
July 12, 2024 • Estimated Reading Time: 10 minutes

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*Day-one playability only available with select plans.

Starting today, Xbox Game Pass Standard will replace the general console tier, and it starts at $14.99. This tier also loses day-one access to games marketed as “playable on day one.” That’s primarily first-party games, but it also includes a handful of others.

Console owners who want day-one access to games need to upgrade to Game Pass Ultimate, for $19.99 a month. For PC players, they can stay at the $11.99/mo plan (still an increase from $9.99/mo) and retain day-one access.

Years ago, Game Pass was almost too good to be true, and like most content subscriptions, it’s proving to be true in the long run. Furthermore, this feels like a massive step back for Xbox hardware. Every week, the console’s competitive value feels like it declines ever so slightly.

Xbox games also release on PC, and game streaming is putting games directly on our phones and TVs, no console required. Sure, you need Game Pass Ultimate for that, but you won’t need the Xbox Series X-2—and Microsoft might not need it, either.

But long term, what does that mean for the consumer? Just 25 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs the same as a $500 Xbox Series X, and that’s without any future price hikes. That may sound like a long time, but that’s only two Call of Duty games.

And compared to its direct competitor, PlayStation Plus Premium will “only” run you $160 a year, compared to Game Pass Ultimate’s $240. You likely won’t be able to play Death Stranding 2 on day one, but Sony’s been grabbing some second-party games for day-one access, which puts it a step above Game Pass Standard’s no day-one at all. Remember when the PS+ price hike felt like a lot?

If the big picture is a consoleless Xbox ecosystem, it won’t take long for it to feel a lot like Adobe Creative Cloud; $60+ a month for years ends up costing way more than Photoshop and Premiere used to when they were single-time purchases.

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