Over the last few weeks, Microsoft has heavily advertised the the Xbox Games Pass service, which allows players to pay a flat fee of $9.99 a month and get access to over 100 games on the Xbox library.
On paper, it sounds like a fantastic deal, but there are some reasons that you might want to wait on the service or even avoid it entirely. Here are the pros and cons to help you make an informed decision.
The Good
The good things about Xbox Game pass are easy for anyone to see. Provided that you have the time and storage space on your hard drive, you can download a plethora of Xbox games, both 360 and One titles, and play them at your leisure. There's no catch — just you, your controller, and a whole lot of gaming.
If you're a person who loves offline singleplayer titles, then you're the type of player who will get maximum value out of the Game Pass. Since you won't be needing the ability to connect to multiplayer servers, you can skip paying for Xbox LIVE and get your hands on a wide collection of the games you like for hardly any money at all, compared to what you would pay by buying each one individually. Of course, multiplayer fans save a bunch too, though will still need to separately get Xbox LIVE.
A huge plus to the Game Pass is that every Xbox exclusive title will be permanently a part of the service moving forward. This is where the ten dollar price tag of the Pass looks truly magnificent, as you'll be getting unlimited access to several $60 priced games for only a sixth of the price of one of them per month.
Lastly, the way the Game Pass installs games on your hard drive instead of streaming them to your console over the internet can be advantageous for players with slow internet connections, although this system does have some caveats (which I will cover in the next section).
The Bad
Though the service will be great for most people, Game Pass does look weaker in some situations. If you're a gamer who doesn't have much time to game, then you won't have the ability to take advantage of the huge library the service offers. If it also takes you several months to beat very long games, such as open world games, then you might be better off finding that game used as opposed to paying $10 every month.
Another type of player that won't find much value in this service are ones that tend to stick with a single game long term and play it for several months or even a year or two. Even the one time payment of $60 for a triple-A title will ultimately cost less than the $120 you'll need to use Game Pass for a year.
Finally, there's the games available themselves. The Game Pass library is also mostly filled with Xbox 360 games. That's not to say that newer Xbox One titles aren't available, because there's currently a good amount of them, too. However, you may want to wait for a few months and see what games come to the service down the line. Check out our list on every game on the Game Pass.
Is it for you?
Do you think Xbox Game Pass is right for you? Let me know why or why not. If you're undecided, you can give the service a shot by getting the 14 day free trial here. At the very least, you'll get to play some free games for two weeks!
Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.
