History
Conception of what would become Game Pass came from two areas. First was with Phil Spencer taking over for Don Mattrick as the head of the Xbox brand at Microsoft following the troubled launch of the Xbox One in 2013. Mattrick had positioned the Xbox One as more of an entertainment hub and not a gaming console, and certain design decisions made prior to launch had to be reverted following negative criticism of this positioning from consumers and the media. Spencer, after taking over the Xbox brand, recognized he needed to put the Xbox in a better position as they planned for the next generation of the console, while reinvigorating the team he had with new ideas for this, even if his ideas were risky.[3] One of the ideas generated during this time was a game rental service, and a project to establish this service was started under the code name Arches. As Microsoft progressed, online streaming services like Netflix and Spotify demonstrated successful subscription business models that led Microsoft to transition Arches to also follow a subscription model eventually into Game Pass.[3] The concept of Game Pass fit into the larger corporate strategy of Microsoft to push cloud-based services under CEO Satya Nadella.[4]
The second area involved Rare, a game developer that Microsoft had acquired in 2002. During Mattrick's period at Xbox, he had positioned the Kinect motion-sensing peripheral (introduced with the Xbox 360) as a major component of the Xbox environment, and assigned Rare to work on Kinect Sports as a launch title for it, atypical of Rare's typical output. According to Rare studio director Craig Duncan, working on Kinect Sports gave them creative ideas for a future game with multiplayer elements, which they initially called "Rare Next" but eventually developed into Sea of Thieves. Sea of Thieves was intended as a major test of demonstrating how well Game Pass would be adopted by players and the economics of the system. Spencer knew there was strong hesitation from other game publishers and developers on the subscription model, so he made plans to have Game Pass launch using a catalog of older titles, and then bring on Sea of Thieves as Microsoft's first first-party game for the service, on the same day that it would also be available at retail or purchasable through digital storefronts.[3] Spencer had told Duncan that even if every player of Sea of Thieves played it through Game Pass and that no retail or downloadable copies were bought, Spencer would still consider that a successful result.[3]
On February 28, 2017, Microsoft announced the debut of Xbox Game Pass and made a limited catalog of games available to select members of its Xbox Insider community for testing and feedback. Later in the second quarter of 2017, the service was opened up to players who subscribe to Xbox Live Gold, and then to the general user population. An Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required for Xbox Game Pass, but it is required for any online multiplayer content the games in the catalog may contain.
As part of Microsoft's E3 2017 press conference, Microsoft announced that selected Xbox titles would be made available through a new backwards-compatibility feature similar to that in place for Xbox 360 titles. In a later interview, Spencer stated that some of those games could make their way onto Game Pass, as well.[5]
On January 23, 2018, Microsoft announced an expansion of Game Pass that would see first-party titles arrive on the catalog day-and-date with the retail release of the game, starting with the aforementioned Sea of Thieves launched on March 20, 2018.[6] Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2 and Forza Horizon 4 would also be added upon launch, although their launch dates were not announced at the time, and future releases in existing Microsoft franchises, such as Halo and Gears of War, would also be added upon their release.[6] Additionally, select ID@Xbox titles are also added to the service on their release dates, the first being Robocraft Infinity.[7]
Spencer has stated that Microsoft's intent with Xbox Game Pass is to make it available across many devices, including those of their competitors. Spencer stated "We want to bring Game Pass to any device that somebody wants to play on...Not just because it's our business, but really because the business model allows for people to consume and find games that they wouldn't have played in any other space."[8]
On April 18, 2019, Microsoft announced Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, a new tier that combines both Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold into a single subscription package. It became available for testing to Xbox Insiders that same day, while general availability began on June 9, 2019.[9] In May 2019, Microsoft announced Game Pass for PC, which would be supported on Windows 10 and have over 100 games available at launch.[10] On June 9, 2019, Microsoft announced that Game Pass for PC would launch in open beta, and this would also be included in Ultimate.[11]
Spencer said in October 2020 that their current pricing model for Game Pass at this point was considered "completely sustainable" despite concerns from some developers that they were undercharging for it, and that Microsoft had no plans to raise the price in the near future.[12]
Xbox Cloud Gaming (codenamed "xCloud") launched for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on September 15, 2020, which adds the ability for cloud gaming to select Android mobile devices, with initially over 100 games optimized for the services. Support for additional Android mobile devices are expected later.[13] Alongside the release of Xbox Series X and Series S, EA Play was added to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on console and Xbox Cloud Gaming on November 10, 2020, before expanding to PC for Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass for PC subscribers on March 18, 2021.[14][15][16] A web application for Xbox Cloud Gaming entered an invite-only beta in April 2021, and became generally available in June 2021; it is compatible with PC and mobile web browsers (including, in particular, iOS devices, as restrictions enforced by Apple that inhibit the ability to offer cloud gaming services on the platform).[17][18]
In June 2021, Microsoft stated that it was working on a Game Pass app for smart TVs, as well as a "standalone streaming device". Both of these offerings would be built around xCloud.[20] In December 2021, Microsoft announced the rebranding of Xbox Game Pass for PC as "PC Game Pass" to reduce market confusion. The service continues to be branded with the Xbox logo.[21]
On January 18, 2022, Microsoft announced that Game Pass had surpassed 25 million subscribers.[22] On that same day, Microsoft announced plans to acquire Activision Blizzard and to begin integrating Activision's catalog of games into Game Pass.[22]
Riot Games, which has traditionally offered its games through its own launcher, announced in June 2022 that they will be adding their free-to-play games including League of Legends to Xbox Game Pass later in 2022. For games like League of Legends, the full roster of champions or heroes will be available to Game Pass subscribers, while for other titles like Legends of Runeterra, subscribers to Game Pass will receive in-game rewards.[23]
A Friends and Family tier was revealed in September 2022, with trials first released in Ireland and Colombia. The higher priced plan, estimated to be $25/month, allows one to share their account with up to four others, limited to those within the same country as the account holder.[24]
Since launch, Microsoft had offered an introductory $1/mo rate for new subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft announced it was discontinuing this promotion in March 2023 and was looking for potential replacement options to draw in new subscribers.[25]
Microsoft replaced Xbox Live Gold with a new Xbox Game Pass tier, called Xbox Game Pass Core, on September 14, 2023. Core carries the same features as Xbox Live Gold (including online multiplayer for non-free-to-play games), and offers a library of 36 games at launch, which is expected to expand and change over time, similar to the main Game Pass library.[26][27][28]
While Spencer described how Microsoft would be making select Xbox exclusives available on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch in February 2024, he stated there were no plans to bringing Game Pass to these platforms, instead remaining the place where they would offer their first-party games first for Xbox and Windows.[29]
A number of pricing changes and tier offerings were made as of September 12, 2024. New users are no longer be able to buy into the console-only tier digitally, though existing users will remain on this plan for at least a year before migration. Instead, a new Standard tier,[30] offering Xbox Live services and access to the game library, excluding day one releases, has been introduced. Other plans remain the same including day-one access but will see their price increased by $2-3 per month, ahead of the availability of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 as a day-one title on the service.[31][32]
Xbox partnered with Antstream in May 2025 to make numerous licensed retro games available through Antstream Arcade as part of the Game Pass subscription.[33]
Microsoft unveiled a revamped Xbox Game Pass tier structure on October 1, 2025, with the service offering three tiers, Essential (A renaming of Core), Premium (A renaming of Standard), and Ultimate. The Ultimate tier will include Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew. The change was also made alongside Xbox Cloud Gaming leaving its beta period, available to both Premium and Ultimate subscribers, the latter with faster streaming options for Cloud Gaming. Day-one releases are limited to Ultimate tier users, but Microsoft increased the number of games available across all tiers, with 50 for Essential, 200 for Premium, and 400 for Ultimate. The prices were also increased across tiers, with Ultimate raised to $30 per month. The PC Game Pass also saw an increase in price along with similar additional features. Microsoft said that they justified the price increases by the addition of more games from additional partners and new service offerings.[34] The price increase, alongside increases in the Xbox console prices in 2025, was met with criticism from players, with many calling for others to cancel their subscriptions.[35]
