Is Xbox Game Pass the Beginning of the End of Xbox One As We Know It?

In this episode of Transition — Gadgets 360’s gaming podcast, we delve into the world of Xbox Games Pass. Announced last year, Microsoft’s stab at a Netflix-like subscription service will now have the company’s upcoming Xbox One exclusives available on it from day one. On the surface it seems like a shrewd move, allowing consumers a flat fee monthly access to the latest and greatest on the Xbox One.

However there’s more to it. Not only is Microsoft cutting out your favourite game store, it’s also ensuring you’re paying extra for multiplayer access via Xbox Live and most importantly, it highlights the company’s biggest pain point — the lack of major exclusive titles worth purchasing an Xbox One S or Xbox One X for. Also discussed is Microsoft’s plans for the Xbox One in India, which seem to be a welcome return to form given its dismal showing in the past couple of years.

Speaking of Xbox One exclusives, we tried out the Sea of Thieves beta and drop our thoughts on what could be Microsoft’s No Man’s Sky. Unless of course, developer Rare surprises us with the full game release out on March 20.

In addition to this we discuss Rainbow Six Siege — Ubisoft’s take on Counter-Strike. Over the years, the game has gone from strength to strength with new player characters, modes, and maps. Despite winning over a fickle community, we dissect why Ubisoft would hike the price of the game and include micro-transactions in the form of loot boxes in a post-Star Wars Battlefront 2 world and how its belligerence is symptomatic of the games industry at large.

You can subscribe to Transition via Apple Podcasts or RSS or just listen to this episode by hitting the play button below. The music for this episode comes via Magnus Souleye Pålsson's album PPPPPP, which is the soundtrack for the game, VVVVVV.