Xbox All Access May Offer a Console, Games, and Live at $35 a Month

Microsoft may offer an Xbox One X, Xbox Live, and Xbox Game Pass for $35 a month (around Rs. 2,450) through a program called Xbox All Access. While it's yet to be officially announced by the company, a report from Windows Central suggests that it would a US only offer to begin with, which would explain why it wasn't announced at Gamescom 2018 - which is a European event. And while an Xbox One X, Xbox Live, and Xbox Game Pass may work out to $35, paying $22 (roughly Rs. 1,540)would net users an Xbox One S, Xbox Live, and Xbox Game Pass.

"We've heard Microsoft is soon planning to debut a new contract-based monthly subscription service dubbed 'Xbox All Access', offering the cheapest way to get an Xbox console, Xbox Live, and Xbox Game Pass. 

As always, plans can (and do) change, but if what we've heard is accurate, Microsoft is looking to unveil its new Xbox All Access service later this month. If you're wondering why it wasn't announced at Gamescom 2018 in Germany, it's because it's looking like it's US-only. The service was originally teased by The Verge's Tom Warren, we've since confirmed some more of the details with our own sources," writes Windows Central's Jez Corden.

While a subscription-based plan for Xbox hardware seems like a logical conclusion for Microsoft given its focus on Xbox Game Pass, it will be interesting to see how this would benefit the current game development business model. Particularly with big publishers like Ubisoft sounding off on the disadvantages of such services to them.

"I actually view subscription gaming as inhibiting our progress, and I’ll give you two examples. One is with PS Now. I think that’s a great technology for getting streaming content to people, but we don’t make the money as a publisher — we don’t make the same amount of money as we would even just putting stuff on sale. So why bother, from a publisher’s standpoint?," asked Ubisoft's Chris Early in conversation with GamesBeat.

"The technology is great for a player. I can play anything anywhere instantly! It’s awesome technology, which is inhibited by the business model. So charge a PlayStation Plus add-on to be able to stream any game you own to any device you own. That’s a great service for the player. It’s going to start people adopting that streaming concept in more places. You’ll be able to get to a place where you have more people focused on streaming.

There’s a similar challenge with your business model. We see it works. We’re believers. You’ve capped it with a subscription plan, where publishers aren’t able to make money. On the other hand, you could just sell the game and let people have the five-minute experience while it downloads, or pay you an add-on price to be able to continue to have fast access in many more places. With subscription it’s just giving it away."

We won't be surprised to see specific games being unavailable on Xbox All Access going forward for business reasons like this. That being said, for countries like India, where the Xbox One doesn't have a great market presence compared to Sony's PS4, it could be a game changer. While Microsoft hasn't announced plans for an Xbox All Access India launch, we've reached out to the company and will update this story if we hear from it.

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