Earlier this month, Microsoft announced that it was replacing Xbox Game Pass Console with Xbox Game Pass Standard, as well as increasing the prices of all offerings. Obviously, this clearly didn't go down well with the gaming community, but it's likely that more changes will come in the months or years to come.
Microsoft reportedly working on cloud-centric Game Pass formula
In a long article published on Windows Centralthe well-informed Jez Corden confides that according to his sources, Microsoft is working on a new third of Game Pass which would focus only on cloud gaming.
This would allow you to enjoy the streaming catalog without having to pay for the Ultimate subscription, which is currently the most expensive and is not necessarily suitable for players who do not have a console or a PC.
I heard that Microsoft is working on a cloud version of its subscription that would be cheaper and more accessible than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Within this offer, Microsoft would even consider offering the possibility of playing owned games. Last February, Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, confirmed that this feature should be available later this year. It was logically imagined at that time that this would only concern Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family Tier May Not Be Dead
Last year, Microsoft ended the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan. It was a one-third trial of the service available in just eight countries. The plan allowed five people to enjoy Game Pass for $24.99 per month.
Just when the formula was thought to be dead and buried, Jez Corden now claims that he's heard rumors that Microsoft is still working on it. This is ultimately not surprising, given that Phil Spencer had suggested last December that Microsoft was still looking for “a value proposition for creators and gamers.”
I've also heard very tentative rumors that the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family tier experiment isn't dead.
Jez Corden has heard that publishers are not convinced by the tests, as they consider the offer too generous. It remains to be seen whether the company will come to offer it on the market and in what form.
A Game Pass formula with advertising would have been studied
Similar to what exists with Netflix, Prime Video or Disney+, Microsoft has even explored the option of a Game Pass formula with advertising, again according to Jez Corden.
He says that Microsoft has explored this potential, but that the company is not actively working on it.
I've heard that Microsoft has explored this potential, but is not actively working on making an ad-based tier of Xbox Game Pass possible.
All this information should of course be taken with a pinch of salt and we cannot be sure that these formulas will see the light of day. What is certain is that if Microsoft adds other third parties to the Game Pass, the general public could get lost among all the formulas.