New reports out this week suggest that the Xbox Game Pass could be getting a serious upgrade.
And if such a deal were revealed in the coming months, it would certainly give gamers a new reason to buy an Xbox Series X, over Sony’s PS5.
While unannounced by the tech giant at this point, reports have surfaced that Microsoft is looking to add the Ubisoft+ service to Xbox Game Pass.
For those who haven’t much about it, Ubisoft+ is a new subscription service launched by the publisher back in September 2020.
It includes a catalogue of games from Ubisoft that gamers can download from for around 12.99 a month.
The big thing to note is that while Ubisoft+ is available on PC, there has been no mention of it coming to consoles.
So if Microsoft were able to add it to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate package, it would make for a massive game-changer.
Not only would even more titles be playable on the Xbox Series X, but you could also look forward to playing new Ubisoft titles the day they release.
Combined with the fact that you can already do this with Xbox exclusives, and it would transform Xbox Game Pass into one of the best gaming subscription services on the market.
For now, this rumour needs to be taken with a big pinch of salt, as Ubisoft has only announced Ubisoft+ coming to Google Stadia in 2021.
A message from the publisher explains: “As a subscriber, you have access to more than 100 games.
“If you unsubscribe, the games will become unavailable unless you already owned them, buy them, or subscribe to Ubisoft+ again in the future.
“You will keep access to every purchase you make (whether you bought a game on the Ubisoft Store or items in-game) even if you unsubscribe.
“The cloud gaming beta is available for all current US subscribers and offers you access to select Ubisoft games on the Luna and Google Stadia cloud gaming platforms.
“You can play on compatible devices using either or both Google Stadia and Luna.
“We are launching this beta to bring Ubisoft+ to more platforms and give you the freedom to choose how you play. We welcome your feedback in our journey to bring you the best gaming experience.”
Microsoft isn’t expected to outsell Sony’s PS5 in 2020, and this trend has been predicted to continue over the coming years.
But if Microsoft pulls out some surprise moves like this, it makes everything a lot harder to predict between the PS5 and Xbox Series X.
As mentioned above, Sony doesn’t have any active subscription services that fill the role of Xbox Game Pass.
The closest is PS Now, which makes it possible to stream a library of PlayStation and third-party games on PS4, PS5, or PC.
PlayStation’s Jim Ryan has hinted that things could change in the future during an interview with TASS.
Asked whether Sony would respond to the Xbox Game Pass, Ryan told TASS: “There is actually news to come, but just not today.
“We have PlayStation Now which is our subscription service, and that is available in a number of markets.
“History will tell you that it’s in the second or third year that the developers really hit their stride.
“Developers typically need a little bit of time to familiarize themselves [with the hardware]. But it’s probably 2022 that you’re going to see some wonderful things in the same way that it was 20152016 for the previous generation when the generation defining-games started to be published.”
