Microsoft’s new Xbox Game Pass slate boosts ‘Netflix of gaming’ with blockbuster titles
- The tech giant unveiled dozens of new titles for its subscription game service, with several from big publishers, in a 90-minute presentation full of trailers
- Microsoft is betting big on Game Pass, which had 25 million subscribers as of January, instead of competing on hardware with Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo
Sunday’s presentation in Los Angeles started and ended with two big games coming next year from publisher Bethesda, which Microsoft bought in 2020: Redfall, a first-person shooter in which players fight vampires, and Starfield, a role-playing game set in space. Microsoft also spotlighted Activision Blizzard Inc’s Overwatch 2, which will enter early access in October with a free-to-play competitive multiplayer mode, and Diablo IV, which arrives in 2023.
All four games will be on Xbox Game Pass, the core of Microsoft’s gaming strategy and the reason it paid US$7.5 billion for Bethesda and is buying Activision Blizzard for US$69 billion. Game Pass allows users to pay monthly for unlimited access to a growing list of hundreds of games. Microsoft has bet big on Game Pass, which it said in January has 25 million subscribers, who pay at least US$10 a month.
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Microsoft’s showcase is an annual tradition that normally takes place during the E3 trade show, where the biggest video game publishers gather to show off new and upcoming projects. But E3 was canceled this year, and other publishers such as Ubisoft and Sony skipped their annual presentations, giving Microsoft the solo spot Sunday.
During the showcase, Microsoft also announced a new Minecraft spinoff called Minecraft Legends as well as several colorful indie titles such as an action game called Ravenlok and an adventure game called Cocoon, all of which will be available on Game Pass the day that they launch.
One highlight of the show was Pentiment, a medieval narrative adventure game with a unique art style, from Microsoft-owned developer Obsidian Entertainment Inc. Although the game has no combat and will likely have niche appeal, it may be a good fit for Game Pass, where experimental games can flesh out the lineup without necessarily needing to sell blockbuster numbers.