Is Xbox… back? It’s certainly been gone for some time, having given up on just about everything that made it a competitor in the space. Even the one thing it had going for it — Game Pass — was slowly drifting towards the toilet. That is, until the new Xbox Ceo, Asha Sharma, righted the Xbox ship by cutting prices this week. It’s a great first step for Xbox. And it may be taking the next one soon, if the leaks are right.
The company is reportedly looking to introduce a new ‘Starter Edition’ Game Pass tier that’ll drop the price further. Other news indicates it’s stepping away from the Microslop Gaming tagline. We don’t need to explain that one, do we? And if that wasn’t enough, it seems the higher-ups are even reconsidering their stance on console exclusivity.
Game Pass gets a whiff of the Nitro
Which, again, begs the question: Is Xbox back? It’s a bit too early to tell, but a ‘Starter Edition’ Game Pass tier would certainly help. In a big datamine found on ResetEra (via VGC), a string of text points to a potential partnership with Discord Nitro, specifically, which would be bundled with the new Starter Edition tier.
“Xbox Game Pass (Starter Edition) is now included with Nitro. Jump in.”
“Subscribe to Nitro and access Xbox Game Pass (Starter Edition), deals on gear, new Orbs perks, and so much more.”
“50+ games like Stardew Valley, Fallout 4, and Grounded. 10 hours of cloud gaming every month. Xbox Rewards. All yours with Nitro.”
If the Starter Edition tier is real (and it seems like it is, based on CEO Sharma’s comments in a post on X), that would make it the fifth such tier. It joins Essential, Premium, Ultimate, and PC, offering online access to multiplayer games as well as a rather small library of 50-ish games. Fallout 4 and Stardew Valley? Not bad. Especially if it’s the cheapest of all the tiers, which Windows Central’s Jez Corden reckons is the case.
That’s not the end for the Game Pass rumours. Talk is increasingly turning to the supposed Game Pass tier that will allow gamers to pick and choose their benefits and price it accordingly. Whether the ‘everything subscription‘ that was talked about only a few months back has survived Sharma’s culling remains to be seen. If she’s serious about setting Xbox up for success, we doubt it’ll ever see the light of day. But, as with anything based on rumours, this could all still change.
