Microsoft has a couple of subscription services for owners of the Xbox One or new Xbox Series X and Series S.
Xbox Live Gold is a monthly membership plan that is required for online play and, while it gives you a couple of free games a month, that’s its primary purpose.
On the other hand, Xbox Game Pass is the firm’s service that gives you access to hundreds of games for just one monthly fee.
They can each be paid for separately, but the best news is that you can also get both, plus Xbox Game Pass for PC, EA Play and Cloud Gaming, for a much cheaper price.
Here’s everything you need to know about Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
What is Xbox Game Pass?
Xbox Games Pass gives you access to more than 200 games to download and play on your Xbox One for one monthly fee. It’s also available on the new Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S.
If you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you also get Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass for PC, EA Play (from November) and access to the new Cloud Gaming service (formerly called Project xCloud), all for the same price.
You can download the games and play them as often as you like, as long as you continue to pay the monthly fee. Some titles might become unavailable as others are added, but you also have the option of buying any of the collection outright at discounted prices.
Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games are part of the line-up, the latter two through backward compatibility, so there are plenty of top titles to choose from. Next-gen games will also be added once those consoles are available.
Microsoft adds releases of its own games as soon as they are made available in the shops.
How much does Xbox Game Pass cost
Xbox Games Pass Ultimate is priced at $14.99/£10.99 a month. You can cancel at any time.
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As mentioned, it includes Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Games Pass for PC and, more recently added, EA Play. Plus, Microsoft’s cloud service, Cloud Gaming, is part of Ultimate at no extra cost.
The standard console-only version of Games Pass doesn’t include Gold, EA Play, Cloud Gaming or the PC version. It costs $9.99/£7.99 a month. It’s the same price for PC-only version when subscribed to separately. Ultimate is clearly the better deal, therefore.
What games are part of Xbox Game Pass?
Xbox Game Pass will always offer more than 200 games, made up of Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox backward compatible titles. Xbox Series X/S games will be added at launch.
Some might be switched in future for other games, but here is the current list of all the games that are currently available:
All the Xbox One games on Game Pass (as of 22 September 2020):
- A Plague Tale: Innocence
- Absolver
- Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown
- Afterparty
- Age of Wonders: Planetfall
- Alien: Isolation
- Alvastia Chronicles
- ARK: Survival Evolved
- Astroneer
- Bad North: Jotunn Edition
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Battle Chasers: Nightwar
- Battletoads
- Blair Witch
- Bleeding Edge
- Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night
- Bridge Constructor Portal
- Carrion
- Children of Morta
- Cities: Skylines
- ClusterTruck
- Costume Quest 2
- Crackdown 3
- CrossCode
- Darksiders Genesis
- Darksiders III
- DayZ
- de Blob
- Dead By Daylight: Special Edition
- Dead Cells
- Dead Island Definitive Edition
- Death Squared
- Deliver Us The Moon
- Demon’s Tilt
- Descenders
- Dirt 4
- Dirt Rally 2.0
- Dishonored 2
- Disneyland Adventures
- Don’t Starve: Giant Edition
- Double Kick Heroes
- Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition
- Drake Hollow
- Dungeon of the Endless
- eFootball PES 2020 Standard Edition
- Enter The Gungeon
- F1 2019
- Fallout 76
- Farming Simulator 17
- Felix The Reaper
- Final Fantasy VII
- Final Fantasy IX
- Final Fantasy XV Royal Edition
- Fishing Sim World: Pro Tour
- For the King
- Forager
- Forza Horizon 4: Standard Edition
- Fractured Minds
- Frostpunk: Console Edition
- Gato Roboto
- Gears 5 Ultimate Edition
- Gears of War 4
- Gears of War: Ultimate Edition
- Goat Simulator
- Golf With Your Friends
- Gonner – Blueberry Edition
- Grounded
- Guacamelee! 2
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo Wars 2
- Halo Wars: Definitive Edition
- Halo: Spartan Assault
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Hello Neighbour
- Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition
- Human Fall Flat
- Hyperdot
- Hypnospace Outlaw
- Indivisible
- It Lurks Below
- Journey to the Savage Planet
- Jump Force
- Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition
- Kingdom Hearts – HD 1.5+2.5 Remix
- Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue
- Kingdom Hearts III
- Kona
- Levelhead
- Lonely Mountains: Downhill
- Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite
- Max: The Curse of Brotherhood
- Metro 2033 Redux
- Middle-earth: Shadow of War
- Minecraft
- Minecraft Dungeons
- Minit
- Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight
- Monster Hunter: World
- Moonlighter
- Mortal Kombat X
- Mount & Blade: Warband
- Moving Out
- MudRunner
- Munchkin: Quacked Quest
- Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden
- My Friend Pedro
- My Time At Portia
- Naruto To Boruto: Shinobi Striker
- Neon Abyss
- New Super Lucky’s Tale
- NieR: Automata Become as Gods Edition
- Night Call
- No Man’s Sky
- Nowhere Prophet
- Observation
- Ori and the Blind Forest: Definitive Edition
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Outer Wilds
- Overcooked! 2
- Oxenfree
- Pandemic: The Board Game
- Pathologic 2
- Payday 2: Crimewave Edition
- Pikuniku
- Pillars of Eternity: Complete Edition
- PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG)
- Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid
- Quantum Break
- Rage 2
- Rare Replay
- ReCore: Definitive Edition
- Remnant: From the Ashes
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard
- Rise & Shine
- Rocket League
- Rush: A DisneyPixar Adventure
- Ryse: Son of Rome
- ScreamRide
- Sea of Thieves: Anniversary Edition
- Sea Salt
- Secret Neighbour
- Shadow Warrior 2
- Slay The Spire
- Sniper Elite 4
- Soulcalibur VI
- Spiritfarer
- State of Decay 2: Juggernaut Edition
- State of Decay: Year-One
- Stellaris: Console Edition
- Streets of Rage 4
- Streets of Rogue
- Subnautica
- Sunset Overdrive
- Super Lucky’s Tale
- Surviving Mars
- Sword Art Online: Fatal Bullet
- Tacoma
- Tekken 7
- Tell Me Why: Chapters 1-3
- Terraria
- The Bard’s Tale ARPG: Remastered and Resparkled
- The Bard’s Tale IV: Director’s Cut
- The Bard’s Tale Trilogy
- The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan
- The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
- The Escapists 2
- The Gardens Between
- The Jackbox Party Pack 4
- The Long Dark
- The Lord of the Rings: Adventure Card Game
- The Messenger
- The Outer Worlds
- The Surge 2
- The Talos Principle
- The Touryst
- The Turing Test
- The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season
- The Walking Dead: Season Two
- The Walking Dead: Michonne – The Complete Season
- The Walking Dead: A New Frontier – The Complete Season (Episodes 1 – 5)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- TheHunter: Call of the Wild
- Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales
- Ticket to Ride
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (Game Preview)
- Totally Reliable Delivery Service
- Touhou Luna Nights
- Tracks – The Train Set Game
- Trailmakers
- Train Sim World 2020
- Two Point Hospital
- Undermine
- Untitled Goose Game
- Vambrace: Cold Soul
- Void Bastards
- Wandersong
- Wargroove
- Wasteland 2: Director’s Cut
- Wasteland 3
- Wasteland Remastered
- We Happy Few
- West of Dead
- Westerado: Double Barreled
- What Remains of Edith Finch
- Wizard of Legend
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood
- World War Z
- Worms W.M.D
- Xeno Crisis
- Yakuza 0
- Yakuza Kiwami
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
- Yooka-Laylee
- Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection
All the Xbox 360 backward compatibility games on Game Pass:
- Alan Wake
- Banjo-Kazooie
- Banjo Kazooie: N n B
- Banjo-Tooie
- Double Dragon Neon
- Fable Anniversary
- Fable II
- Fable III
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Gears of War
- Gears of War 2
- Gears of War 3
- Gears of War: Judgment
- Jetpac Refuelled
- Joy Ride Turbo
- Kameo
- Lego Star Wars III
- Mass Effect
- Ninja Gaiden II
- Perfect Dark
- Perfect Dark Zero
- Viva Piñata
- Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise
All the original Xbox backward compatibility games on Game Pass:
- Fuzion Frenzy
- Panzer Dragoon Orta
* Coming soon, ** Leaving soon.