A reflection on why I love Xbox Game Pass, and why value isn’t everything.
It’s been widely reported that Xbox added approximately $5k worth of games to Game Pass in 2023. That’s a great number. Amazing value, you could say, given at its most expensive a year of Game Pass Ultimate would set you back just over $200.
The following statement isn’t true, but that stat might lead some to say YOU are saving $4800 a year. Incredible! Of course, it’s highly unlikely you were going to buy every game added to Game Pass in 2023. But (excuse the use of “but” to start the sentence there, I needed some dramatic effect) making Game Pass all about value is doing the sprawling games catalogue subscription a disservice. For me, Game Pass is mostly about discovery… the freedom (from burgeoning costs) to give things a go.
It’s obviously great to get big, hyped games on Game Pass. Towards the end of 2023 we got Starfield and Forza Motorsport – two games I would have bought if Game Pass didn’t exist – but Game Pass feels more special when something surprises you. Without thinking too hard (mainly because I only allotted 45 minutes to write this), I’ve had this feeling with Tunic, Cocoon, PowerWash Simulator, Everspace 2, and Remnant 2.
