At Microsoft’s X018 Xbox fan event in Mexico City, the company announced a fair number of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass. Most notably, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice are coming to the subscription service. PUBG will be…
At Microsoft’s X018 Xbox fan event in Mexico City, the company announced a fair number of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass. Most notably, Player Unknown’s Battlegrounds and Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice are coming to the subscription service. PUBG will be added November 12th while Hellblade will be added December 17th.
Amid rumors that PUBG is coming to PS4, this is likely a move to cement PUBG firmly as better on Xbox. Previously, Microsoft had a year of console exclusivity for PUBG but with the game potentially coming to the most popular console of the current generation, the Microsoft likely wants to ensure that newcomers to one of the games to kick off the battle royale craze have an easier way to play. That said, the insane popularity of Fortnite and the well-executed Blackout mode on Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 provide stingy competition.
Hellblade coming to Xbox Game Pass isn’t too surprising given that Ninja Theory, the developer behind Hellblade was acquired by Microsoft earlier this year. The game itself was lauded by media outlets and gamers alike for its gripping portrayal of mental illness, specifically psychosis.
Xbox head Phil Spencer alluded to the future of Xbox during their E3 2018 press conference. Microsoft clearly believes in the game streaming and subscription model to expand the business for the future. Most recently, the company teased Project xCloud which uses custom Xbox hardware in a blade server configuration to stream Xbox One games to almost any device. Additionally, Microsoft introduced Xbox All Access which gives you a console, Xbox Live, and Game Pass for a low monthly fee. Turning Xbox into a Netflix-like subscription service has the potential of drastically reshaping the gaming landscape and allows people who previously could not afford gaming to now jump in.
