Game Pass needs to nail three things to stay alive

On last week’s episode of The Full Nerd podcast, we talked a lot about Game Pass. It got me thinking: What would Microsoft have to offer to get me to subscribe, regularly, not just in passing to try out an interesting new title? And how long might it stick around if things keep going poorly?

We ran a quick and informal poll on the live TFN audience, finding that 18 percent of those watching us yap were currently subscribed to Game Pass, 27 percent had formerly done so, and 4 percent would subscribe if it came to Linux. Just over half, 51 percent, gave a flat “no, I’m not subscribed.” That’s not a shocking result for an audience that’s interested in high-powered PC hardware — if anything, I was a little surprised that approximately one in five were current subscribers. 

Game Pass inherits problems from Xbox

I imagine that there’d be more in the “used to subscribe” if we had asked a year ago. In October of 2025 Microsoft finally realized that its eyes were bigger than its stomach, and raised prices from $20 to $30 a month for Game Pass Ultimate, right ahead of the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. After a bunch of layoffs and a leadership shakeup, the price was lowered back down to $23 a month for Ultimate…notably missing the blockbuster day-one releases of new Call of Duty games. They’ll come to the service a year later. 

As we discussed, Game Pass isn’t going anywhere, at least for the next few years. Microsoft has spent the better part of a decade building up this service as the future of not just the Xbox platform, but its own gaming ambitions. It has spent a hundred billion dollars, give or take, to grow its catalog of publishers and developers. That’s freight train levels of corporate inertia — even slashing thousands of jobs won’t turn it around. It basically has to keep trying, for a while, or abandon all that money and work. 

Microsoft

But as bad a place as Xbox is in right now, as much as the “This is an Xbox” campaign appears to have flopped, Microsoft is uniquely positioned to offer an egg in This Trying Time. Microsoft can decouple its gaming content, both “Xbox” (whatever that means anymore) and PC, from hardware…which is only getting more and more expensive. It can do so in a way that Sony and Nintendo can’t. Other companies with vast cloud infrastructure have tried this — Google, Amazon, Netflix. But Microsoft is the one with the brand, the pedigree, and crucially, the games. 

“This is an Xbox” was a good pitch, and it’s only more appealing when an actual Xbox costs $500 to $800. You’ve already got a phone and (probably) a laptop, and you don’t want to buy a new one if you don’t need to. Getting games you care about on those screens is still something a lot of people are interested in…especially if that “Project Helix” on the horizon costs anything near the Steam Machine it seems to be aping. 

So that leaves me with the question: What does Microsoft need to do to get subscribers? More than offering new COD titles every year, and more than buying up the next mid-range game studio, since it’s tightening the purse strings. I came up with three pillars that it needs to focus on, specifically to appeal to me, a PC gamer who’d prefer to play pretty much everything in Steam. 

Step One: Accessibility 

This is the one that I think Microsoft has actually done a really good job at. The best thing about Game Pass is getting all those games, wherever you are, whatever you happen to have handy. A $100 kid’s tablet from Walmart can log in and stream Game Pass titles with no problem, so long as you have a decent connection. You can play Game Pass in a car, or on a fridge. It truly is the Netflix of gaming, at least in that sense. 

Microsoft

But there’s more that can be done here. Streaming games is great, but obviously not ideal for each situation. That “decent connection” is a rather large tentpole to hang a service like that upon. You can’t play on a plane, can’t play on the subway, can’t reliably hold onto the connection in a big building. And there are large portions of the US and the world where the assumption of a high-speed, low-latency connection in people’s homes is a flawed one.

Fortunately for Microsoft, there are a lot more options now. I’ve played Steam games originally intended for Windows — surprisingly robust ones! — on my Android phone. Valve has been getting PC games onto Linux for years now, and appears to be ready to do the same for Arm-based devices thanks to the Snapdragon-powered Steam Frame. 

This is all doable…and now that Google is being forced to open up the Android ecosystem, it’s a perfect time for Microsoft to publish its own games to Android platforms, opening low-powered or emulated games (like those brand new Xbox classics, running on a 360 emulator!) to phones and all those cheap handheld devices. 

Ayaneo

Obviously you’re not going to be playing the new Halo remake on a $200 Android gadget. But there are dozens, maybe hundreds, of games that would work in that context, more than enough to make up for areas where streaming wouldn’t work. Ditto for smart TVs; even something like a Chromebook could work there. And on the subject of non-Microsoft PC platforms…Linux. 

Would Microsoft value Game Pass subscriptions on Linux devices, including the Steam Deck and SteamOS, or stick to its guns to try to keep Windows as the de facto home of PC gaming? Flip a coin, it’ll probably come down to a cost-benefit analysis. Still, worth thinking about it.  

Step Two: Value 

This one’s gonna be harder, as it’s a balancing act between the current health of the platform in terms of users…and money. Microsoft had such a vitriolic blowback against the price increase last year that I doubt it’s going to pull the same trick again in the short term, but value is a huge part of the equation for any extended service. That’s why I pay for a single month of Netflix, binge all the stuff I haven’t seen yet, then cancel. 

Knowing that its platform is trying to appeal to penny-pinching gamers, I think the approach here is modularity. And surprisingly, it’s already doing at least some of this. We often think of “Game Pass” as a singular price, currently $23 USD for Ultimate. But that’s not all. The “Premium” option strips out a bunch of games from EA and Ubisoft, the almost worthless Fortnite Crew pass, and those high-profile, day-one releases, for a more reasonable $15 a month. 

Comparatively, the $14 “PC Game Pass” (PC games only, no streaming, but day-one releases) looks like a poor value to me. I wouldn’t be surprised if it disappears at some point.

That $15 Premium option still gets you console and PC games, local downloads, and streaming to whatever device you want and over the web. It’s even adding streaming for at least some games that you already own. And these are some serious titles, not just Microsoft stuff — just glancing over the list of initially supported titles, I’m seeing blockbusters like Baldur’s Gate III, Cyberpunk 2077, and Space Marine 2, more indie options like Hades and Balatro, and some interesting middle grounds like High on Life and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden. Checking current support, I’m seeing more recent titles like 007 First Light, Absolum, and the remake of Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag. Not bad! 

Throwing in the streaming option for a lot more games would go a long way towards making that value play. I’d appreciate some way to add on the day-one releases without also having to pay for a lot of stuff I don’t want, like Ubisoft’s back catalog and Fortnite extras. I kind of hate myself for saying this, but…make it more like an old-school cable TV package. Without the triple-digit price tag. 

Microsoft/Amazon

One last thought on the subject of value: Microsoft, please give potential new customers an entry point. Something like a gaming-focused Chromecast — plug it into your TV and you’re ready to start streaming Game Pass games. Bundle it with a controller and a few months of service for $100. It’ll look pretty good on a Walmart shelf, next to a $1,000 PlayStation 6.

Step Three: Novelty 

This one will be the hardest. Microsoft knows that Game Pass lives and dies on its catalog, that’s why it spent so much money to acquire so many publishers and developers. Heck, the last time I remember subscribing it was to play Hi-Fi Rush… and Microsoft promptly fired the developers after it came out. I’m getting mixed messages here. 

Bethesda Screenshot

Like Netflix, Game Pass needs both a big, stable catalog, and a fresh injection of new games on a regular basis to keep people coming back. That’s one of the reasons that stripping out the day-one releases of Call of Duty hurts so much. And it’s one of the big misses from the cheaper price tiers that I mentioned above. 

So here’s my compromise: As a reward for subscribing at a lower tier, give players a 24-hour period to play those new games. A free extended demo or, if you’re old enough to remember when Blockbuster stocked video games, a rental. That’s a real reason for players to sign up and stay subscribed. 

And it combos so beautifully with the new option to stream games you own outright. Let’s say that Microsoft gets that next Call of Duty in this system. It isn’t included with Game Pass on day one, not even at the highest tier, but you get a day to check it out. If you want it, you pay $70 (ugh) for the full game. And now you can stream it to any device you want, or install it locally on hardware that can handle it. 

Activision / Blizzard

This setup would be so good that Microsoft could offer it to other publishers, especially its partners EA and Ubisoft. Give Game Pass subscribers a little taste, and an easy way to play it anywhere if they buy the full thing. Sounds like a win-win to me. And it’s worth considering that a 24-hour preview is a lot more than you get from, say, Steam’s return window, which many frugal PC gamers use as a two-hour rental period. 

There ya go, Microsoft, a bunch of ideas to make Game Pass more appealing, as gaming itself gets more and more expensive. You can send my consulting fee care of PCWorld…actually, scratch that. You can have it for free, and maybe lay off fewer game developers. 

Cool stuff from around the web

• This mini PC comes pre-loaded with Bazzite and a touchscreen: Move over Steam Machine, you aren’t the only Linux-based gaming PC in town. But with a Ryzen AI 9 365, I doubt it’ll be affordable…assuming it ever actually comes to market. 
• Power a PC with a gas lamp: Okay, this isn’t so much a “PC” as a tiny integrated computer with a few very basic functions. But if you need to do your tax return even after the apocalypse, this steampunk computer is right up your alley. 
• Mod a Steam Deck into a tiny “Game Boy”: One modder is trying to shrink the Steam Deck’s chunky mainboard down into a smaller form factor, about the size of the original Game Boy from the ’80s. It’s not quite ready, the smaller screen is hard to integrate, but it’s a very cool idea. 
• Xbox Elite 3 controller is incoming: Leaks are starting to appear for the next-gen version of Microsoft’s flagship controller. It has a tiny screen. Whoopdie do, I just want it to have hall effect sticks. 

Reddit user on /r/Controller

• Virtual carrier pigeons deliver text messages: Have you ever wondered how long it would take to get a message the really old-fashioned way? This app delivers your text messages with a simulated pigeon that can only go at its maximum airspeed velocity, based on the location of you and your conversation partner. 

Game pick of the week: 20 Minutes Till Dawn 

Flanne

I haven’t been able to get into Vampire Survivors, but this similar take on “bullet heaven” is something I still boot up on a regular basis. You’re a tiny girl in the deep woods full of creepy crawlers, and you have a gun. Shoot everything, don’t get hit…and power up slowly as you gain levels. 

It’s a super-simple setup and an even simpler visual presentation with just five primary colors. All the better to eat you focus on the top-down, twin-stick combat, and try to find the combinations that will get you past the bosses. Survive for 20 minutes and you win…unless you’re feeling particularly masochistic, and you want to try the truly insane possibilities in endless mode. 

20 Minutes Till Dawn is an incredibly reasonable $5 on Steam. It’s also available on Mac, iOS, Android, and Switch, and you can try it for free online. 

That’s all for this week. To get my editorials, news picks, and game recommendations delivered straight to your inbox, you can sign up for Boost Mode on the PCWorld Newsletter hub. Check out The Full Nerd, Prompt Mode for “AI” tips, Safe Mode to keep your PC and gadgets secure, and Smart Mode to boost your productivity.