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Xbox Game Pass Launches June 1

Microsoft's new $10 subscription service is finally ready to roll out with over 100 games to play.

 & Matthew Humphries Former Senior Editor

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Microsoft will soon start turning its attention to the launch of Project Scorpio, but for now, the focus is on boosting Xbox One sales as much as possible.

With that in mind, a new subscription service announced in February, which promises unlimited access to over 100 games, will officially launch on June 1.

Xbox Game Pass is meant to get more of us playing games regularly on the Xbox One, so in addition to requiring an Xbox One, Game Pass will cost $9.99 per month. In return, you'll gain access to over 100 games from the Xbox One and Xbox 360 game libraries.

Rather than being streamed, each game you opt to play through the service will be downloaded to your Xbox hard drive and can be deleted and re-downloaded as often as you like provided there's an active subscription.

Microsoft is also promising to add new games to the service every month. If you want to buy one of the Game Pass games to keep permanently, expect a healthy discount to be applied to the purchase price.

Until now, we only knew Xbox Game Pass was launching in the spring, but clearly that didn't happen. A short video posted on Facebook starring Danny McBride (watch it above) confirms a June 1 rollout. The subscription service will sit alongside Xbox Live Gold, which itself costs $60 per year (for a limited time, buy a 12-month Xbox Live digital code and get a 3-month Xbox Live digital code for free).

About Our Expert

Matthew Humphries

Matthew Humphries

Former Senior Editor

My Experience

I started working at PCMag in November 2016, covering all areas of technology and video game news. Before that I spent nearly 15 years working at Geek.com as a writer and editor. I also spent the first six years after leaving university as a professional game designer working with Disney, Games Workshop, 20th Century Fox, and Vivendi.

I hold two degrees: a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science and a Master's degree in Games Development. My first book, Make Your Own Pixel Art, is available from all good book shops.

My Areas of Expertise

  • PC components and system building
  • Raspberry Pi
  • Software development
  • Storage technology
  • Video games and gaming hardware

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