The Asian Age

NOW, LET’S XBOX AND CHILL!

- ARCHISHMAN PRADHAN

Microsoft has announced a premium subscripti­on based service that gives consumers access to over 100 Xbox One and 360 titles to choose and play from. The Xbox Games Pass is akin to other subscripti­on based services like Netflix or Origin Access, wherein, for a monthly subscripti­on fee, you get access to a plethora of titles to pick and play.

The access to these titles last as long as your subscripti­on is active, and will get revoked the moment you unsubscrib­e. Subscriber­s will also be able to play old Xbox 360 games on their Xbox Ones using backwards compatibil­ity.

Microsoft has assured that the Xbox Games Pass program will not affect the ongoing ‘Games with Gold’, where Microsoft allows Xbox Live Gold Members to download and keep up to two games a month for free.

As of now, the Games Pass program is in beta and will go live for all Xbox users in the spring, giving them access to titles such as Halo 5, Payday 2, Fable III and the likes. The current subscripti­on costs $10 a month and no long-term subscripti­ons plans have been announced by Microsft as of writing this article.

It’ll be curious to see if Microsoft allows players to gift Games Pass access to their friends, as that would open it up to even more gamers. With the decline in quality of both PlayStatio­n Plus and Xbox Live Games With Gold free games, for just an extra $10 this could be a gold mine for most gamers.

Frankly, I think this is a good move for gamers who operate on a budget, as it gives them access to a huge library of games at a fraction of the price it would cost them to buy the games itself. Provided you have decent internet to download games regularly or all in one go, this could be a very sweet deal for gamers all over the world.

 ??  ?? BIG DEAL: Some of the game titles available online
BIG DEAL: Some of the game titles available online
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