I think it’s time to explain Microsoft’s Game Pass to everyone who might be just as confused as I was originally. As a large family with many gamers(3 Boys), it’s hard to understand how and where you can use Microsoft’s Game Pass. Let’s break it down as best we can.
First, let’s get the cost out of the way. At the time of this article, there are essentially 4 subscriptions for Microsoft for gamers. Let’s list them out.
XBOX Live Gold
Price: $9.99 Per Month.
Whats Included: XBOX Live Gold service only really gets you a few things. It includes the ability for XBOX users to play online games. It also includes Games with Gold, a select few games Microsoft hands over to you each month that you can claim. Usually these are decent games and a mix of XBOX One and XBox 360 games.
XBOX PC Game Pass
Price: $9.99 Per Month.
Whats Included: XBOX PC Game Pass is essentially, Netflix for video games. It allows you to download and play many PC titles directly from the Windows XBOX App, there are many Day 1 releases and plenty of popular titles in here. The PC Game pass also give you discounts toward games and DLC content. Note: This is PC only, you gain no benefits if you own a Console such as XBOX One or XBOX Series X. Last and not least, EA Play(EA’s Subscription service), includes a large library of games that EA publishes. This won’t include all of the latest releases but does include lots of popular releases such as Star Wars: Battlefront 2 or even most Sports titles including Fifa or Madden NFL Football.
XBOX Console Pass
Price: $9.99 Per Month.
Whats Included: XBOX Console Pass is exactly the same as PC Game Pass in terms of getting a large library of games each month. Also includes discounts on some Console games and DLC content.
XBOX Ultimate Game Pass
Price: $14.99
Whats Included: XBOX Ultimate Game Pass gives you all of the above. You get XBOX Live Gold, XBOX PC Game Pass and XBOX Console Game Pass. Most users will essentially get this to save money on games as well as the Gold(Multiplayer) game service. XBOX UGP also includes XCloud, Microsofts Online Streaming service allowing you to stream many games over a web browser without downloading them.
Special notes about these services.
- XBOX Console Pass DOES NOT include XBOX Live Gold. Meaning separately you will pay $20.00 making the XBOX Ultimate Game Pass the best option.
- Games generally don’t have a time limit but can leave at any time. Most games are licensed for a time period and the publisher has the option to renew or not. So occasionally games will leave the PC Game Pass and Console Pass.
- PC Game Pass and Console Game Pass do not contain the exact library. There are games on both that will only show under one or the other.
- XCloud Streaming is only available on the highest tier(Ultimate).
- XBOX PC Game Pass DOES NOT require XBOX Live Gold to play online.
| Service | XBOX Live Gold | XBOX PC Game Pass | XBOX Console Game Pass | XBOX Ultimate Game Pass |
| Multiplayer(Console Only) | X | – | – | X |
| Large Game Library free to download. | – | X | X | X |
| Member Discouts on Games and DLC | – | X | X | X |
| EA Play | – | X | – | X |
| XCloud | – | – | – | X |
Family Sharing
Now the bad news. At the time of this article, there is no family sharing on XBOX Anything. Essentially if you go through the headache of setting up Microsoft Family(which is great for securing your children’s accounts from games, movies, music, and communication you don’t want them to have.), there is only so much you can do to ensure that everyone can play online and access the large library of games.
- If you add XBOX Live Gold on the Main Account for your family, your XBOX Live Gold will trickle down to the other users in the family.
- If you add XBOX Live PC Game pass to your main account. Other accounts in your FAMILY can access the library of games available. However, it requires you to sign into your account on their PC or Windows Account and starting the download. Once the game is downloading they can switch back to their account on the XBOX App and play it once it’s finished downloading.
- For Console players and the XBOX Console Pass(or UGP) it’s a little tricker. You are allowed one Home Console system. You will need to make it your Home system for the Main account that is paying for the service. This Home system works similar to the PC Game Pass as you can swap to the main account, download the game, and swap back to the other users. HOWEVER, if you essentially can only run 1 more console system other than your home console. Example: If you have 2 consoles, Console 1 would have to be your home console and anyone in the Microsoft Family Account can play on this console. Console 2 will have to be logged in as the Main Account on the Microsoft Family. It will only work with that user on Console 2. If you try to play a game on a third console, it will boot Console 2 off.
- You can mix and match. For example my situation in my house hold. I have 5 users that essentially use XBOX items (4 PCs and 2 Consoles). We can play on 4 PCs and the home console without an issue. For the user who is using Console 2 as their main console, if myself as the main user wants to play something, that user can not be playing something from the Game Pass library, other wise once I launch, it will kick him out. However my alternative to this isn’t much better. Game pass for 5 people separately would be $49.99 and actually higher than that as we have to consoles that would need XBOX Live Gold. So my total would be about $60.00 per month for a family of 5.
The Good News
The good news for everyone is that Microsoft has said they are testing family versions of Game pass in select countries currently. The rumored price will be $24.99, which is a lot better than the $49.99 or even $60 dollars it would cost someone with multiple users in a household. No ETA for a world wide release yet.