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

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Microsoft features the Xbox Game Pass during an Xbox event ahead of the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles on June 9, 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

Published: 10:14am, 13 Jun 2022

During a flashy 90-minute presentation full of game trailers, Microsoft Corp revealed dozens of new titles for its subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, including several from the big publishers it purchased in recent years.

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.

Rather than engage in a hardware duel with rivals Sony Group Corp, the maker of PlayStation, and Nintendo Co, Microsoft is working to create the Netflix of gaming – and by many accounts is already close to doing so. Almost every game at the showcase ended with a chyron saying, “Play it day one with Game Pass,” a constant reminder of the company’s strategy.

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.