Xbox Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass (PC Game Pass in the PC version) is a video game subscription service developed by Microsoft. For around $10-15, subscribers would have access to 100+ video games, as well as other benefits depending on which version they choose to subscribe to.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) As stated before, the service has over 100+ games available on it. And what's better is that lots of them are well, or even greatly received by gamers and critics alike, like Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Red Dead Redemption 2 (formerly), the entirety of the Yakuza games (excluding its Spin-offs), Sunset Overdrive, and much more!
 * 2) * In October 2020, they have announced EA Play to the service, meaning you can now play some of EA's games for free, such as The Sims 4.
 * 3) Unlike other video game subscriptions models such as mh:crappygames:PlayStation Now or mh:crappygames:Google Stadia, games can be downloaded to local hardware rather than just be limited to the cloud.
 * 4) There's three different versions of Game Pass to fit different gamers: a PC version, an Xbox version, and an Ultimate version (which is a combination of both the PC and Xbox versions and includes Xbox Live Gold and EA Play membership, giving members access to their benefits as well)
 * 5) The subscription service gets new games at a consistent pacing.
 * 6) Members of the subscription service get deals and discounts on certain games they wish to purchase.
 * 7) The service is properly priced: the PC and Xbox versions normally cost $9.99 a month each, while the Ultimate version costs $14.99 a month. (Plus, the PC and Ultimate versions each cost $1 the first month as a trial period, and sometimes it's for multiple months).
 * 8) * In some countries like Mexico, this trial period can cost only 10 pesos, which is less than half a dollar!
 * 9) Game Pass has a system called Quests, with players getting Microsoft points as a reward for completing certain objectives with Game Pass titles (such as playing a game from the Game Pass catalogue or getting a certain achievement in a certain game). This gives subscribers encouragement to try out different titles available in the service.
 * 10) Ultimate subscribers have access to Perks, which are premium free trial offers for other subscription services (ex. YouTube Premium, Crunchyroll, and Spotify). Often, these offers last for several months.
 * 11) * Perks also include in-game bonuses for first and third-party titles, such as Starter bundles for Halo Infinite Multiplayer.
 * 12) Xbox Cloud Gaming (Xbox's cloud streaming service; formerly called Project xCloud) is merged in with Game Pass Ultimate, and is considered the best cloud gaming service available:
 * 13) * The streaming service is highly optimized, as the minimum internet requirement is 4.75 mbps; this means people with lesser quality internet can still use the service.
 * 14) * The service does not force subscribers to use an Xbox controller to play on the cloud; subscribers can use PlayStation Dualshock and even Dualsense controllers if they wish.
 * 15) * Over a hundred titles have touch support, meaning that subscribers can play those games without the need for a controller.
 * 16) * In late 2021, cloud gaming was introduced for Xbox consoles. This means that subscribers can just jump into a supported game without waiting for it to download or the game taking up space on their console.
 * 17) ** Cloud gaming for Xbox also means that users on the Xbox One line of consoles can play games that are Series X|S exclusive.
 * 18) Before a game leaves, you get a notice relatively far in advance. For some shorter games, this can be long enough to do one last playthrough.
 * 19) As a result, this may help drive sales for games found on this service that people want to buy once and play forever.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The PC version of Game Pass is only available on the Windows 10 Xbox app while the Xbox version is only available on the Xbox One and the ‎Xbox Series X/S. The Game Pass mobile app (required for using the Cloud aspect of Ultimate) is only on Android, due to Apple's restrictions on game streaming services on their app store. In addition, using EA Play through PC Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate requires you to use their EA Desktop client instead of Origin client.
 * 2) * Fortunately, cloud support via internet browsers was introduced in June of 2021, allowing Microsoft to circumvent Apple's app store restrictions and letting Apple users play from the cloud.
 * 3) Some of the games that are included with the Xbox Game Pass are terrible such as mh:crappygames:Race with Ryan. (But at least people won't directly spend money on these bad games)
 * 4) Some games are only on the service for a limited time before being removed.
 * 5) Unlike most subscription services, you can only subscribe per month, which makes it about $180 per year.