Xbox Game Pass
As part of this year's E3, Microsoft gave an outlook on the new additions to the Xbox Game Pass and the Game Pass for PC. After all, subscribers can look forward to highlights such as the co-op zombie shooter Back 4 Blood, D&D Dark Alliance and The Ascent. However, there are not only newcomers, but soon you will also have to say goodbye to some games. We give an overview.This comes from the Twitter user and leaker "Wario64", who has already attracted attention in the past with many correct predictions. Accordingly, eight games from the Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass for PC range will fly on July 1, 2021. This includes the action role-playing game Monster Hunter World from Capcom.
You also have to say goodbye to the fighting game Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite in a little less than two weeks. Sports fans will also have to forego Out of the Park Baseball 21 from July 1st. In addition, The Messenger will soon no longer be part of the Game Pass. Here is the overview:
Outer Wilds Monster Hunter World Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Battle Chasers: Nightwar Soulcalibur 6 The Messenger Mistover Out of the Park Baseball 21 Recommended editorial content Here you will find external content from [PLATFORM]. To protect your personal data, external integrations are only displayed if you confirm this by clicking on "Load all external content": Load all external content I consent to external content being displayed to me. This means that personal data is transmitted to third-party platforms. Read more about our privacy policy . External content More on this in our data protection declaration. Microsoft has not yet revealed which other games will be removed from the Xbox Game Pass offer in the foreseeable future. Such titles as Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, Night Call, West of Dead, Wizard of Legend and Observation had already been "caught" this week.
Source: Twitter
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The big winner at E3 2021 is... Xbox Game Pass
© Provided by CNET MicrosoftAt an all-virtual E3 video game show with only a handful of standout surprises, the biggest news to me was just how central Xbox Game Pass has become to the Xbox ecosystem. Microsoft's subscription service was already a must-have to many gamers, but it's now becoming the first stop for many of the biggest upcoming Xbox games.
Originally, Xbox Game Pass, which costs $10 to $15 per month, was a bit like classic Netflix or a second-run theater. Some older games, some indie games, but not likely to be the only way you find things to play. With the launch of the Xbox Series X and Series S, plus the addition of EA's EA Play library, it's become a much more premium all-you-can-eat subscription service.
Starfield and Halo Infinite are the stars of Microsoft's Xbox 2021 event
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But at E3 2021, Microsoft took it several steps further, committing most of the bigger 2021 Xbox games to the service. Almost every big preview during the Xbox E3 livestream was tagged as being available on Xbox Game Pass at launch.
Read more: Xbox Series X review
That includes Psychonauts 2, Back 4 Blood, Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and, next year, Starfield, the sci-fi sure-to-be blockbuster from Bethesda, as well as Stalker 2. Cult hits like Hades and Among Us are coming to Game Pass as well.
© Provided by CNET Xbox Cloud Gaming on a PC. Dan Ackerman/CNETI've previously called the lower-cost Xbox Series S the perfect Game Pass machine, and it reinforces my belief that, much like video streaming, gaming is moving toward a subscription model -- and eventually a cloud-based model. Just before E3, Microsoft talked -- in the most vague terms -- about its plans to incorporate cloud gaming into future smart TVs and even an Xbox streaming stick.
Video: E3 2021 Preview: Xbox, Nintendo, Bethesda and more (CNET)
E3 2021 Preview: Xbox, Nintendo, Bethesda and more
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The long-term picture is that the actual hardware will become less important over time, as games become device-agnostic, cloud-streaming like a Netflix movie to almost any laptop, tablet, phone or smart TV.
Read more: Xbox Cloud Gaming beta hands-on: How to play Xbox games on your iPad or laptop
Many of the Game Pass games listed by Microsoft at E3 2021 are also coming to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which means they'll play in a web browser or app on your iPad, iPhone, Android device or laptop. Note that you'll need the more expensive $15-a-month Game Pass Ultimate subscription for that feature, which also includes PC game access and Xbox Live Gold.
That cloud access is where I'd bet the future of gaming is headed. As far back as in 2013, I urged Sony and Microsoft to go all-in on cloud gaming instead of building ever more powerful consoles. I may have been about 10 years too early on that one.
For now, however, the pitch is that instead of spending $60 to $70 each on, for example, Halo, Forza or Back 4 Blood, you've already covered the $180 annual cost of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. With the selection from Sony's PlayStation Plus feeling anemic compared to Game Pass, and Nintendo's retro-only section for Switch Online, the emergence of Game Pass as the future of Microsoft's gaming business model is the biggest news to come out of E3 2021.
© Microsoft