There’s no doubt that Xbox Game Pass has been very successful on Xbox One, and as a result, there have been plans to bring the service to PC gamers for quite a while. Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has today confirmed that the programme will be heading to PC players soon as part of Microsoft’s new approach to PC gaming that includes three distinct plans.
Xbox Game Pass on PC
Xbox Game Pass on PC will not be a carbon copy of the Xbox One programme — it has instead been redesigned to fit better with the PC community. Players will have access to more than 100 Windows 10 games from over 75 developers and publishers like Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive, and SEGA. New games will be added every month, and like its Xbox counterpart, Microsoft intends to release some games onto Xbox Game Pass on their day of release, and these include new titles from Obsidian and inXile. There will be Microsoft Store discounts of up to 20% on games within the programme, and up to 10% off select DLC and add-ons.
Xbox Game Studios PC Games Come to Multiple Stores
Many players expressed surprise when Halo: The Master Chief Collection was also revealed for Steam, but it seems like this is just the first of many games to be released on multiple stores. Microsoft has now revealed they’ll be bringing their Xbox Game Studios PC games to multiple stores, including the current Windows 10 store, at launch — titles like Gears 5, Age of Empires: Definitive Edition, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition, and Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition will be some of over 20 titles heading to Steam too.
As well as multiple stores, Microsoft will be introducing features into their games to nurture a shared player community across those platforms. Voice and text chat, LFG, and friends lists will be added, while cross-play will be available between PC and console. All of these functions will be found in the Xbox Game Bar on Windows 10, which will also be expanded in the future.
Win32 Support on Windows 10
Microsoft will be adding full support for native Win32 games on Windows 10, allowing for more player customisation with their experience and better support for developers.
Microsoft promises more information on Xbox Game Pass on PC at E3 2019. We’ll also learn more about new titles and offers coming for PC players. Microsoft will take to the stage at 1PM PT on June 9th, so make sure to tune in for all of those juicy details.