As if the thought of the impending Steam sales for Autumn and Winter didn't look set to make your PC gaming pile of shame threaten to topple over, Microsoft has just revealed its plans to bring its Xbox Game Pass subscription service to computers, too.
Xbox Game Pass is a $9.99 / £7.99 / AU$10.95 monthly subscription service that gives Xbox gamers access to more than 100 titles to play. These are downloaded to the console rather than streamed in from the cloud, and include access to Microsoft's first-party titles on the same day they're released for regular sale. Sony's rival PlayStation Now service allows downloads of some games and streaming of others on the PlayStation 4 console, while PlayStation Now on PC only allows you to stream.
Play (and download) anywhere
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella announced the platform addition as part of a financial year 2019 earnings call, but didn't detail exactly when the launch would happen, nor how the PC counterpart would compare to the Xbox version.
However, it should be a relatively seamless transition, as Microsoft has been pushing its Play Anywhere initiative (where games are developed to be played across both PC and Xbox) heavily.
Currently, Play Anywhere titles are included in the Xbox Game Pass, but not all Xbox Game Pass titles have the Play Anywhere feature. That'll likely be the next step in getting Xbox Games Pass ready for PC consumption.
Microsoft also announced that a new Xbox Game Pass smartphone app is on the way, which will let gamers remotely manage their subscription and set titles to download even when they're away from their consoles (or, presumably inevitably, their computers too).
- Xbox All Access: everything you need to know
