Update 1:38pm PT: At its E3 conference, Xbox announced that the service will also be integrating Xbox Game Pass for PC as well.
Xbox wants the future of the gaming business to lean heavily on subscription services. The company’s Game Pass service has let users download games from a pool of dozens of titles, now Microsoft is trying to make the offer too good to refuse by bundling Xbox Live Gold with the service for $14.99.
Xbox Live Gold offers online play, but the extras included with the subscription like free games and Store discounts represent some of Microsoft’s more aged strategies in getting more revenue per user and building out Xbox loyalists. Game Pass brings users unlimited access to a library of 100+ games that include some console classics.
Live Gold retails for $9.99 per month as does Game Pass so the combo offers a nice discount and will likely be an easy sell to existing Live Gold users who are already ponying up subscription fees to Microsoft.
We’ll hear more about Microsoft’s plans with Game Pass Ultimate at their press conference, which begins soon.
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