Microsoft’s subscription service has occupied the front line at the annual video game trade fair, with the upcoming availability of Halo, Forza and Starfield amongst others.
The 2021 edition of the E3 show has just ended with a very meager balance in terms of striking shocks.
The most striking fact is no doubt how the Xbox Game Pass has become a key element of the Xbox ecosystem.
Microsoft’s streaming video game service was already a necessity for many players, and it is becoming a must-go location for most of the greatest Xbox games to come.
Initially the Xbox Game Pass was home to older games, independent titles, but no exclusivity.
With the introduction of the Xbox Series X and S Series and the addition of the Electronic Arts EA Play library, it has become much more expensive.
During the E3 2021, Microsoft took a further step by announcing the availability of most of its yearly highlight titles on the Xbox Game Pass. Virtually all games featured on the Xbox keynote of the E3 will be available on the streaming service at the launch. Included are Psychonauts 2, 4 Blood, Forza Horizon 5, Infinite Halo, Starfield and Stalker 2 for next year. Worship games like as Hades and Among Us will also be available on the Game Pass.
A key to Xbox streaming.
We already thought that the S Series of Xbox, the most affordable of Microsoft’s two next-gen consoles, was the perfect system for the Game Pass. This further strengthens the notion that, like with video streaming, the game is evolving into a cloud-based subscription model. Immediately before the E3, Microsoft referred, in vague terms, to its plans to integrate gaming cloud into connected TVs and even into an Xbox streaming key.
Over the long run, equipment will lose its value when gaming becomes terminal-independent and broadcast on almost all laptops, tablets, phones, and smart TV.
Most of the Microsoft-announced Game Pass games will also be available on Xbox Cloud Gaming, which means they will play in a web browser or an app on an iPad, iPhone, Android or laptop. To use this feature, you will also need to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate, which also includes access to the PC and Xbox Live Gold games.
It seems quite clear that the future of video games is going through the cloud. With Sony’s PlayStation Plus offering which looks anemic compared with that of the Game Pass, and Nintendo’s retro section on the Online Switch, Microsoft seems to have taken a step ahead.
Latest: September 2024
