On the eve of E3, Microsoft made a loud announcement. The Xbox Game Pass subscription, which opens access to an extensive gaming library of new products for a monthly fee, will be available to PC users. In addition, future projects of the company’s internal studios will no longer be Microsoft Store exclusives on PC. They (including Gears 5) can be purchased on Steam.
In the official Microsoft blog, the head of the Xbox division, Phil Spencer, stated:
- Xbox Game Pass for PC will give players unlimited access to a library of 100 curated products from developers such as Bethesda, Deep Silver, Devolver Digital, Paradox Interactive, SEGA and others. Also, all Xbox Game Studios games will become available to subscribers of the service on the day of the worldwide release.
- Today, Microsoft is committed to ensuring that players have a choice where to buy games from Xbox Game Studios. The company is interested that when its games are launched globally, they can be purchased on a PC in several stores at once, and not only in the Microsoft Store. In this regard, she will continue to expand her portfolio on Steam. In particular, in addition to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, she will launch the upcoming Gears 5 and updated editions of the first three Age of Empires there.
In addition to this, Spencer said that support for 32-bit applications will appear in the Microsoft Store. Previously, it was only possible to publish projects in the store that supported the 64-bit version of the Windows API.
The head of the Xbox division promised to provide more details at E3. On June 9, two days before the official opening of the exhibition, Microsoft will hold a detailed briefing.
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