If Microsoft’s E3 2019 press conference won’t start until 1PM PT today, it looks like the company has already pushed some buttons a bit too early. First of all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft’s new subscription service that combines Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold has now gone live on the Microsoft Store.
Microsoft gave select Xbox Insiders early access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate a couple of weeks ago, but it looks like the subscription is now available for everyone at a special $1.00 introductory price for the first month (regular pricing is $14.99/month).
We’ve been able to “upgrade” to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate without issues this morning, but the new Xbox Game Pass for PC has also appeared on the Microsoft Store. This standalone subscription will cost $9.99/month, just like Xbox Game Pass on console, but there also a special $1 introductory price while the service still has a “Beta” label, and it will cost $4.99 per month after that for a limited time.
The store listing for Xbox Game Pass for PC doesn’t include the full list of games yet, but 10 games are already on display including Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Hellblade Senua’s Sacrifice, while Halo: MCC, Gears 5 and Ori and the Will of the Wisps are listed as “coming soon.”
Interestingly, it appears that Xbox Game Pass for PC will be included for free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, even though this isn’t mentioned explicitly on the store listings for both services. With an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, we’re already seeing “Install” buttons on the Store listing for games that will be in the catalog, as well as for unannounced games such as Metro Exodus. However, it looks like it’s not possible to install Xbox Game Pass PC games as of this writing.
Xbox Game Pass for PC may require the new Electron-powered Xbox app that leaked earlier today. This new app will allow Windows 10 users to navigate the Game Pass catalog on PC, but it will also integrate social features including Xbox Live chat. We expect Microsoft to officially launch Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass for PC later today during the Xbox press briefing,and you’ll be able to watch it all on mixer.com/xbox at 1PM PT. Stay tuned to OnMSFT as we’ll be covering the event live.
Update 4PM PT: Microsoft has since clarified that Xbox Game Pass for PC will cost $9.99/month, just like the console version. The $4.99 price we indicated earlier is a limited-time promotion while the subscription service is in beta, we’ve updated the post to reflect that.
