If you’re an Xbox owner, an Xbox Game Pass subscription
is almost a must-have. The service, which runs $10 to $15 a month, includes not only a large, ever-changing catalog of games to download and play, but also bundles access to online multiplayer services. The $15 Game Pass Ultimate tier adds PC games and cloud gaming that works across consoles, PCs, phones and tablets.
Read more: Best Game Subscription Services
Unlike the otherwise-similar PlayStation Plus subscription service, Game Pass includes a good number of high-profile new games at launch, such as Halo Infinite, and will include new Bethesda games, like 2023’s Starfield. PlayStation Plus is largely focused on an older catalog of games.
For PC gamers, Game Pass is less of a must-have. PC gamers have access to games from online stores like Steam and the Epic Game Store, and cloud options from Nvidia GeForce Now to Amazon Luna (sorry, Google Stadia). But it does offer the ability to take some games and play them across both PC and console, syncing your progress along the way.
Read more: Best Cloud Gaming Services
If you’re on the fence about Game Pass, or just looking for some suggestions about what to play, below are some recent and classic favorites on the service. Especially of note right now are A Plague Tale: Requiem, which is a sequel to a much-lauded indie game, and Chivalry 2, a competitive medieval multiplayer game, which I get a great kick out of. The H.R. Giger-inspired Scorn is a great example of a cool-looking game that’s great to sample via Game Pass, but you probably wouldn’t want to pay full price for.
New and noteworthy
Recent hits
Must-play classics
PC gaming picks
We’ll keep this list updated with new additions and new staff suggestions. You can also check out our picks for the best games on PlayStation Plus.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
Game Pass has evolved far beyond its Xbox-bound origins to become a subscription that delivers something for everyone who plays games, and now encompasses console and PC game downloads, access to online multiplayer services, a deal with gaming giant EA and a cloud-based service that streams games to nearly any device.
Microsoft offers several versions, but because of how the features are sliced up between them, only the $15-per-month Ultimate plan, with all the benefits detailed above, really makes sense. Read our Xbox Game Pass review.
