Microsoft might roll Xbox Live and Game Pass into one big subscription

To debut alongside the disc-less Xbox One S

Microsoft has two different gaming subscriptions that serve unique purposes. Xbox Live Gold is the one that enables multiplayer functionality, cloud saves, and four free games each month. Xbox Game Pass is essentially a digital rental service where users pay a flat monthly fee to have access to more than 100 games. There’s use to both of them, but people who are interested in one may not care about the other.

However, Microsoft may soon combine the two into a mega subscription. According to a report from The Verge, Microsoft plans to pair the two in a $15 per month subscription called Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. That comes out to $180 over the course of a year.

Most people who already subscribe to both won’t necessarily notice any savings, though. An annual Xbox Live Gold membership is $60 and 12 months of Game Pass is $120, which works out to $180 per year. That’s exactly the price of a full year of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Although, it is worth noting that people who pay higher prices for shorter Xbox Live Gold subscriptions see some sort of discount under this new plan.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will allegedly be unveiled alongside the announcement of the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition, which is Microsoft’s rumored disc-less Xbox model. Seeing how Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass are the two most prominent digital services Xbox offers, it’d make sense for Microsoft to position this as the perfect complement to the new console. Also, Microsoft will presumably retain the option to buy the plans separately, with the bundled subscription acting as a convenience more than anything else. We’ll find out more in the coming weeks when the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is finally revealed.

Microsoft to combine Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live into $14.99-a-month subscription [The Verge]