Xbox Game Pass: Last News

Microsoft’s Game Pass service has been somewhat shrouded in secrecy regarding its financials – until now, anyway, as a document has revealed just how much money it generates a year.Game Pass’ revenue has been revealed as part of Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), who has approved the deal, has released a document outlining its rationale – which also includes a lot of data on gaming companies.According to the document (spotted by Tweaktown), Xbox Game Pass generated £2.6bn ($2.9bn) in the fiscal period ending January 2021 – though even this doesn’t offer the complete picture, as it only covers console revenue and PC Game Pass is not included.Still, that revenue makes up around 18 per cent of Microsoft’s total yearly Xbox revenue at £14.7bn ($16.28bn), or almost 30 per cent of its games and service revenue £11.3bn ($12.581).Microsoft has been inconsistent about revealing just how many subscribers Game Pass has – but went from 15 million to 18 million subscribers between August 2021 and March 2022.Though as Eurogamer notes, it’s not exactly clear how they’ve arrived at this figure, as it could include discounted game sales through Game Pass and DLC sales from games on the service, or indeed it might not.For context, it is revealed elsewhere in the document that Nintendo Switch Online generated £843million ($932million), and EA Play brought in £322million ($356million).The document has been released following substantial scrutiny of the proposed Activision Blizzard merger.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard’s rivals with regards to their proposed £50billion merger.That’s according to a leaked document seen by Reuters, in which the EU is asking developers if Microsoft would be incentivised to block rivals’ access to Activision Blizzard’s biggest titles – most notably Call of Duty, as well as the recently-released Overwatch 2.The questionnaire, which features around 100 questions, also asks developers, publishers and and distributors if the deal would impact their bargaining power with regards to selling console and PC games on the Xbox platform, or via Game Pass.Additionally, the leaked document also asks if, given the enormous popularity of their games, Activision Blizzard’s user data would give Microsoft a competitive advantage in the industry.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th anniversary update is adding a number of vehicles and enhancements later this year.Announced yesterday (August 25), the anniversary update is set to drop on November 11. It will add helicopters and gliders, the “most requested enhancements” from the game’s community, new airplanes and six historically significant aircraft.The six historical aircraft include the “903 Wright Flyer, the Curtiss JN-4 Jenny from 1915, the beautiful Grumman G-21 A Goose, and the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules, also known as the Spruce Goose,” there will also be true-to-life airliner the Airbus A-310.That means the Wright Brothers plane, which had the first sustained flight from a manned heavier-than-air powered aircraft, will be in Microsoft Flight Simulator.Check out the trailer for the update below.When the anniversary update takes flight on November 11, the game will have 12 new aircraft, 12 heliports, 12 glider airports, six classic commercial airports and 20 historic franchise missions.The Microsoft Flight Simulator update will also be free, and included with Xbox Game Pass at launch. This update will thus be joining the Top Gun: Maverick expansion, which adds a number of jet planes from this year’s Tom Cruise film.Elsewhere, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not be raising the price of the Xbox Series X|S at this time, after Sony abruptly did so for the PS5 this week. “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options.

Sony has stated that it had no involvement in getting Death Strandingon PC Game Pass.Despite Sony owning the intellectual property of Death Stranding, the company was not involved in the licensing deal with Microsoft for its PC Game Pass service.In Sony’s statement, a spokesperson outlined the company’s relationship with the deal, stating that “matters relating to the PC release of Death Stranding are managed by Kojima Productions and 505 Games. [Sony] has no involvement in this promotion” (via Push Square).The version of Death Stranding coming to PC Game Pass is not the Director’s Cut which released on PC in March of this year, with the service only receiving the base gamewhich was first released on PC in 2020.As Sony owns the intellectual property for the game, it is currently a console-exclusive for the PlayStation group of platforms.Death Stranding coming to PC Game Pass was teased via some cryptic tweets from the official Game Pass Twitter account before being confirmed by the same account earlier in the week.

Microsoft has alleged that Sony has a practice of paying developers “blocking rights” to stop games from being launched on Xbox Game Pass.The statement has been filed in response to Sony’s recent comments on Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Speaking to a Brazilian regulatory body, Sony claimed  Microsoft acquiring Call Of Duty would make it challenging to rival; which would in turn have an effect on what console gamers chose to play their titles on.Now (via The Verge), Microsoft has argued that Sony is still large enough to rival the company, and claims ongoing business practices show Sony is actively doing so.“Microsoft’s ability to continue expanding Game Pass has been hampered by Sony’s desire to inhibit such growth,” claimed the company, explaining that “Sony pays for ‘blocking rights’ to prevent developers from adding content to Game Pass and other competing subscription services.”Microsoft went on to say that Sony’s concerns over the acquisition are “incoherent,” and says it reveals “a fear about an innovative business model that offers high-quality content at low costs to gamers.”How Microsoft’s ongoing acquisition of Activision Blizzard will affect the games industry has been under scrutiny since it was announced.

Yakuza franchise is currently on Xbox Game Pass as three titles have made a return to the service.All of the games from the main series – not including spin-offs like Judgment – are currently on Game Pass, from the remake of the original Yakuza in 2005 to 2019’s Like A Dragon.The three titles that have been reintroduced to Game Pass are 0, Kiwami and Kiwami 2 (via Wario64).All of the franchisetitles on Game Pass are listed below:Whilst some of these are technically prequels or remakes of classictitles, it now means that as of publication every entry in the main franchise is on Game Pass, and this goes for all versions including PC, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.Back in Februaryfranchise creator Toshihiro Nagoshi explained how his new team at Nagoshi Studio wants to approach making video games.“Well, when the team and I decided to start a new studio, we knew we’d be leaving the content we had previously been working on behind,” Nagoshi said.“But I also have a strong mental attitude and a lot of ideas I would like to try, which could even surpass my previous work, so I was confident that leaving the old series behind will afford the chance to try new things.”There’s still no confirmation as to what Nagoshi Studio’s first game will be, but Nagoshi himself said it will include “a high level of human drama.”In other news, it’s been confirmed that a remake of 2012 cult-classic Lollipop Chainsaw is on the way next year.

Microsoft has announced a new program designed to bring demos to Xbox Game Pass, and it’s called Project Moorcroft.The early game demos intended for the Project Moorcroft initiative are meant to replicate the demos played during gaming conferences such as E3 or PAX.“We were sitting around as a team thinking, you remember it used to be you go to E3, you go to PAX, and you would go visit some of your favourite creators and they would have a piece or a level of a game that you could sit there and play, and there would be someone from the studio like right next to you in your ear being like: ‘press that button, go under there, do that stuff,'” said Sarah Bond, corporate vice president of game creator experience and ecosystem at Microsoft Gaming, speaking to press.“And you would get to experience the game, and they would get to generate excitement about what they’re building and what’s coming next.“So we said you know what?” Bond explained, “Why don’t we take Game Pass and make it like the show floor? Why don’t we make it possible for a developer to take a piece, a level of their game, release it into Game Pass, generate excitement for what’s coming, and also get that really valuable feedback as they are tuning and preparing their game for launch?”Bond also added that Microsoft set up the program to not just benefit the player, but it benefits the developers as well by giving them financial compensation for the game. It will also allow developers to receive feedback as well.Project Moorcroft is set to release within the next year and will begin by focusing on indie games.

Microsoft is apparently working on a group family pass for Xbox Game Pass, as the subscription service currently only offers individual memberships.As outlined in a Windows Central article from yesterday (March 31), trusted sources have said that a family plan – where one account can pay more to share Xbox Game Pass across a household’s accounts – is in the works and set to release sometime this year.The higher payment tier will apparently grant access to Xbox Game Pass for five different players, and be “far cheaper” than paying for each Xbox Game Pass account separately. Currently, Xbox Game Pass retails at £7.99 a month for console and PC, or £10.99 for Game Pass Ultimate, which includes game streaming and extra perks.This means that at present a regular subscription would cost five players £39.95, or Ultimate subscribers £54.95 a month.

Xbox Game Pass additions have been confirmed, with titles such as Crusader Kings 3, Shredders, and Weird West all making their way to the service this month.As detailed in a blog shared by Xbox today (March 15), Xbox Game Pass users will be able to play an additional eight games via the subscription-based service in March.On March 17, snowboarding game Shredders will be added to Xbox Game Pass along with The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk: The Amulet of Chaos, which is a “story-driven hybrid between a deck-building roguelike and an RPG”. Both games will be available on PC, Cloud and Console.The next two games to join the service – Tainted Grail: Conquest and Zero Escape: The Nonary Games – will be added on March 22.

Shredders, the snowboarding game from studios I-Illusions and Let It Roll, is launching on PC and Xbox Series X|S on March 17.Yesterday (March 2), publisher FoamPunch announced the release date with a brand new Shredders trailer while reaffirming that it will also be releasing day one on Xbox Game Pass.The trailer shows off newly captured gameplay of snowboarders in action, riding snow trails and pulling off unique tricks – similar to that of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series. You can check out the short trailer below:Shredders was announced back in June 2021 as “a love letter to snowboarding” and takes inspiration from snowboarding films, as well as the Amped games that were released on Xbox and Xbox 360.As the game synopsis reads, “You and your pal are making goofball snowboarding videos at the Frozen Wood resort when brand ambassador Lisa makes an offer for a couple of sponsored videos.

Xbox news website has seemingly revealed what’s “coming soon” to Xbox Game Pass, with no official announcement made as of yet.Usually, Xbox Game Pass announcements are made via Twitter and on Xbox Wire, but an image on Xbox’s website, which can be found here (as of publication), reveals what’s coming to the service. Some of these games have already been announced, but there’s no mention of release dates in the image. Unless specified otherwise, all of the games are coming to the cloud, console and PC.

Xbox Game Pass in the middle of December, with titles for all ages being thrown onto the service. The announcement comes from a video on the official Xbox On YouTube channel, where each game was shown off and given a brief description. You can find the list of this week’s day one and other releases below:It looks as though a PlayStation rival to Xbox Game Pass might also be in the works at Sony, if recent reports are to be believed.

Total War: Warhammer 3 has solidified a February release date, revealed the Ogre Kingdoms as an ‘early adopter’ faction, and announced that the title will be available on Xbox Game Pass for PC.Today (November 4) Creative Assembly has confirmed that Total War: Warhammer 3 will launch on February 17, 2022.The game will also be available from day one on the Xbox Game Pass for PC, which chief product officer Rob Bartholomew says will allow the team “to bring the ruinous powers of Chaos to as many players as possible”.Furthermore, anyone who pre-orders Total War: Warhammer 3 or purchases it within the first week of sale will get a bonus Ogre Kingdoms race pack.

Xbox is apparently working with Finnish developer Mainframe on its cloud-based massively multiplayer online (MMO) title codenamed Pax Dei.This was first mentioned by Windows Central reporter Jez Cordon on The Xbox Two Podcast, when he said “Microsoft is working with a studio in Finland, or at least I’ve heard, called Mainframe on making a cloud native game.”“I have no details about that,” he added, “it could be tied up to one of the codenames that I do know about the project info for, but that is what I’ve heard, that they are looking to make these sort of cloud-native games.”This was then supported by a report from Jeff Grubb at GamesBeat, where he wrote that the same has been confirmed to him “through independent sources”.

Hades is finally coming to Xbox Game Pass this month, though the headliner is also joined by a selection of other titles added to the subscription service.As announced in the latest Xbox Wire post yesterday (August 3), new games have been confirmed for Game Pass for August.The Supergiant Games roguelike will join the service on August 13, the same date that it is also launching on PlayStation, although Game Pass subscribers will be able to play Hades for free on Xbox consoles, PC, and via the cloud.Two installments from the Skate series – Skate and Skate 3 – will also be available on the service on August 5 via EA Play, which is included with Game Pass for no extra charge.

Neon Giant has confirmed that the Xbox Game Pass for PC version of The Ascent is currently missing certain high-end graphics features, though the studio is already looking for a fix.When The Ascent released last Thursday (July 29), PC players were quick to notice that ray tracing and DLSS (Nvidia‘s Deep Learning Super Sampling technology) were included in the Steam version but not in the Xbox Game Pass version.Neon Giant has confirmed on Twitter that while the features are currently missing from the latter version, the issue “is being looked at, with the intent of fixing it/bringing it to parity with Steam across the board”.We are working on bringing them up to parity.

Microsoft has unveiled its latest set of titles that will be added to Xbox Game Pass over the coming weeks. As confirmed by the platform holder through its traditional rollout of content (via Twitter), the biggest name that stands out immediately is the introduction of Battlefield V.

Xbox Phil Spencer has said that the success of older games on Game Pass encourages bringing those franchises back.Speaking on the newest Kinda Funny Gamescast (thanks, VGC), Spencer was asked if people playing older games would encourage reboots, he said: “absolutely it does… take Prey, which I think was an amazing game when it came out but a lot of people missed.”He added: “seeing more people playing something like Prey, or Dishonored or going back to Fable and [that] you can talk about those games, for us as we sit back as a creative organisation and watch what people are interested in, it gives us more data to think about things that we might pick up and take forward with new ideas and new teams that might want to go do that.”Spencer