Microsoft To Combine Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Into $14.99-a-Month Subscription

Microsoft is planning on launching a new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription that combines Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass into a single monthly charge. From a report: Twitter user h0x0d first revealed the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, and it claims the service will be priced at $14.99 per month. The Verge understands that Microsoft will likely unveil this service alongside the company's new disc-less Xbox One S All-Digital edition later this month. The combination of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live subscriptions into a single monthly charge means Xbox owners will save around $5 per month compared to the $19.98 monthly subscription price for an existing combination of the two. It's not a massive savings, but the new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offering will make a lot of sense for Microsoft's new disc-less Xbox One S since this console won't include a Blu-ray drive and will rely heavily on digital downloads and Xbox subscription services.

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[Fwipp]

You can still buy games.

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[jeadly]

I've got bad news if you think buying it on a disc changes that relationship dynamic.

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[Fwipp]

You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet. They can't revoke it without talking to your xbox.

I don't understand how Slashdot is full of people who can't understand basic technology.

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[kingbilly]

I would mod you up if I had the points. Not every game needs internet access, but the parent was also wrong to ignore the fact that some of the most popular games don't run without an internet connection. It probably won't be long before more singleplayer games need them. Even things like Destiny are kind of pushing it with their "shared-world-shooter" needing a constant internet connection, even if you only want to play along. And there are modes where you can be completely isolated from other humans, befo

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[fox171171]

You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet. They can't revoke it without talking to your xbox.

I don't understand how Slashdot is full of people who can't understand basic technology.

So, one game per console?

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[noodler]

"You can download a game and then disconnect it from the internet."

Yeah, back in 1999 you could...
But these days games won't start without internet because they say you *need* the social features.
Of course this is not about the social features, it's about control and profit maxing.
But you won't hear them say that they make more money off of you this way.
They just say that they implemented some social shit that is woven into the game so deeply it won't start without it.
And they can't change it because coding

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[Darinbob]

Xbox users seriously pay $20/month just to play games, and they're not revolting?
(well, some of them are kinda revolting but no more so than gamers on other platforms)

Sweet!

[BringsApples]

At $15/month that's waaay cheaper than taking my kid to a movie, or out to a water park or out.... oh wait. I see what they did there.

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[alvinrod]

They're kids. Kick them outside and they'll make their own games as long as their imagination hasn't been completely eroded.

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[EvilSS]

Pretty sure you can get arrested for that these days.

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[Darinbob]

Don't worry about it too much. I'm sure these kids will grow up to be the nurses at our old folks home.

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[Fwipp]

You don't need to be always-online. You just need to be online when you want to download a game. Same as buying a game from Steam.

(Yes, this applies to Game Pass games too, not just ones you buy.)

And if you hate Microsoft that much, they're still selling the Xbox S and X, which come with blu-ray drives. You can buy your games at gamestop and never connect it to the internet.

Overage

[tepples]

You don't need to be always-online. You just need to be online when you want to download a game. Same as buying a game from Steam.

It might work in urban areas within the footprint of fiber, cable, and DSL. But users behind a satellite or cellular home Internet with a 10 GB per month quota and a $10 per GB overage fee would find both Xbox purchases just as cost-prohibitive as Steam purchases.

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[EvilSS]

Well then don't buy the disc-less console then. They won't stop selling physical media just yet. Though with sales of physical media already declining for consoles (and virtually dead on PC, with most physical copies moving to just a code in a box) that may not be that way forever. But you have consumers to really blame for that. They are the ones choosing digital convenience over physical ownership.

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[drinkypoo]

Satellite gives you more like 100GB now. It's hard to hit the cap with ordinary use, given that they throttle video.

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[Fwipp]

I followed all your steps, but I got too distracted by playing the videogame to indulge your foot fetish.

New NES games still being developed

[tepples]

When my XBox 360 dies, that will probably be the end of my gaming, because I'm not sure you can buy a console which is purely offline these days.

You can buy a RetroUSB AVS or a Retro-Bit Retro Entertainment System. These play nearly all games made for the Family Computer (Famicom) and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), including titles from Broke Studio, Retrotainment, Sly Dog, KHan Games, Spoony Bard, and other indie studios that specialize in new NES games.

Hopefully Sony follows Suit

[XxtraLarGe]

I've been a PlayStation Plus subscriber for ages, it would be great to have it combined with PlayStation Now. The reason I didn't change from PlayStation Plus is I had a bunch of free games, and I get a discount for having both PSP & PS Vue.

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[XxtraLarGe]

You're a loser in a manchild's body.

Great, now my wife's posting anonymously on Slashdot.

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[Curunir_wolf]

I have PS Vue, but no Playstation (XBox instead). Vue works fine on the Roku. Wish it would run on the XBox, which offers nothing similar.