Microsoft is reportedly going to combine Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass into a one-stop subscription called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
This could mean a few dollars in savings and some added convenience.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
As first revealed by Twitter user h0x0d, who has a good track record when it comes to leaks related to Microsoft, the new service will cost gamers $14.99 a month — and $1 a month for insiders until the official release. According to The Verge, the new offering is to complement the upcoming disc-less Xbox One S All-Digital edition.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate = Xbox Live Gold Xbox Game Pass.
$14.99/month, special price for Insiders = $1/month until release. — WalkingCat (@h0x0d) April 5, 2019
Xbox Game Pass gives users access to hundreds of games, such as Sea of Thieves and Minecraft. Meanwhile, Xbox Live Gold provides perks such as online multiplayer, the Xbox Play Anywhere feature, cloud saving, and free games every month. In other words, a subscription that puts them together makes sense for the disc-less Xbox One S.
Users will also get some sort of savings from this. About $5, to be exact. That's based on the total $19.98 subscription cost to Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass. However, an annual Xbox Live Gold subscription is $59.99, while the Xbox Game Pass will turn out to be roughly $120 a year. That adds up to around $180 a year, the same cost as the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in one year.
It's unclear whether Microsoft is going to keep Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass as separate subscriptions once Xbox Game Pass Ultimate rolls out or not, but it's probably going to do so, as certain gamers may not be interested in one or the other.
Bundling subscriptions together into one package isn't anything new in Microsoft's book. It already tried this with its All Access subscription, which came with an Xbox One X, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox Game Pass for $34.99 per month.
Recently, the company has been pushing to move beyond discs. Aside from the disc-less Xbox One S All-Digital edition, this is evidenced by its upcoming game streaming service xCloud as well, which aims to provide streaming access to computers, smartphones, and consoles.
