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[IbizaPocholo]

Microsoft has removed the ‘Xbox’ from PC Game Pass | VGC

PC subscription service rebrands to differentiate itself from consoles…

www.videogameschronicle.com

On Thursday the platform holder announced a name change for the PC version of the service to simply, “PC Game Pass”, removing Xbox from the brand name.

Xbox’s PC Game Pass profiles have now also been changed to simply, ‘PC Game Pass’ on social media.



Ampere analyst Piers Holding-Rolls commented: “I thought this was a joke but no. It makes sense to lose the Xbox for PC users but then you still have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which includes the PC titles and is available to PC users”

Microsoft’s gaming division has pushed a platform-agnostic strategy in recent years and committed to releasing many first-party games across multiple devices.

Differentiating the PC Game Pass brand from Xbox could help signal to consumers that they don’t necessarily need to buy an Xbox to use the service.

 

[pqueue]

I think it will help long-term as far as marketing to new customers goes especially worldwide, but Xbox is such an established brand name and is already associated with games.

Xbox on Windows or something might have worked as well.

 

[RoboFu]

I think it is to avoid confusion that not all Xbox games are on pc and vice versa. And it seems ms has killed play anywhere which is sad.

 

[Magic Carpet]

Next up the reveal of the console Series PC. A console that plays PC Gamepass.

 

[reksveks]

Next up the reveal of the console Series PC. A console that plays PC Gamepass.

With a MS version of Steam big picture mode.

I might be into that, depending on the margin they take on the hardware.

 

[SportsFan581]

Next up the reveal of the console Series PC. A console that plays PC Gamepass.

Don't give them the idea of naming a console with the moniker PC. (Though I kind of think a dual boot Xbox/PC would be genius).

Reasonable change, I guess. If I were them I would leave the Xbox branding attached to the streaming service, gives them a bit more grounding/heritage than their rivals.

 

[SlimySnake]

Great. Now please fix the bugs. Let me uninstall my games. Make parties easy to join. Don’t make me launch gamebar seperately.

Please. The app really sours you on the PC gamepass experience.

 

[Jennings]

This is a plus in my book. I was genuinely annoyed when I tried to download Age of Empires 4 on my Xbox only to learn that the game being on "Xbox Gamepass" doesn't mean playable on Xbox. So stupid.

 

[Bernd Lauert]

MS needs to fix that shit. I know for a fact that all the big brains over there are working on Azure but they need to temporarily pull a couple from it and let them fix PC Gamepass.

 

[Gameplaylover]

Naming it Pc Game Pass + the Xbox logo is a very good idea to avoid confusion and still profit from the brand.

 

[Esppiral]

Nice, now let me play Halo infinite, it crashes always after the intro.....

 

[Stuart360]

It makes sesne. I always thought it was a bit weird why the PC version was called 'Xbox Gamepass', especially as there are differences between the games offered on both.

It will probably help wih the console hating PC gamers that wont touch anything thats related to consoles lol.

 

[drotahorror]

Next up the reveal of the console Series PC. A console that plays PC Gamepass.

PC Series X Box


Good name change though and totally understand why.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

MS's best decision in regards to PC Gamepass was to enable modding and such instead of encrypting all the files. Some games in their current state are barely playable (ala Wolfenstein games).

 

[Topher]

Smart. Xbox is primarily known as a console. Differentiating PC Game Pass will be less confusing for some consumers. I think at this point Game Pass subscribers are probably mostly on console.

 

[Fare thee well]

Lol I appreciate this. I said I had 100s of hours on xbox service (on pc) for mechwarrior 5 on my steam review and everyone jumped down my throat: 'yo im calling bs man, it just released on the xbox' *cries*

 

[Kilau]

I think it is to avoid confusion that not all Xbox games are on pc and vice versa. And it seems ms has killed play anywhere which is sad.

Killed play anywhere?

 

[Hezekiah]

Makes sense. Most people who have PC GamePass don't have an Xbox, or any interest in getting one.

 

[DenchDeckard]

so they are now going to lose the xbox game bar etc from PC? seems like they are back peddling on unifying the system.

 

[Drizzlehell]

So much for the unified platform that's not tied to any specific hardware...

 

[Clear]

Makes sense. Most people who have PC GamePass don't have an Xbox, or any interest in getting one.

Especially with XCloud offering a second screen option it makes sense to brand based on platform nativity.

 

[Hezekiah]

so they are now going to lose the xbox game bar etc from PC? seems like they are back peddling on unifying the system.

Do many people use that?

I have it disabled, and for any recording etc I just use Geforce Experience.

 

[RoboFu]

Killed play anywhere?

Yup where you buy it one time and get access to both Xbox and pc versions.

 

[anthony2690]

This will definitely help the service.
Regardless what people think, the general public or casual audience, just isn't in the know.

I know game pass members that did not realise that Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 were going to launch on game pass till either I told them, or they just showed up on release lol

Edit: Hi Rivet, I see you're on a laughing emote spree again.

 

[Kilau]

Yup where you buy it one time and get access to both Xbox and pc versions.

Yeah, I missed that it’s ended.

 

[BlackTron]

Poor MS being not sure what to do.

I thought they were trying to make Xbox into more of a service/platform than just a console. But I guess it created too much confusion, and now they're backpedaling. Kind of, sort of, mostly. This week.

 

[ripeavocado]

I wouldn’t worry that much, I expect the ultimate to become the entry level pass sooner or later.

it’s the strategy to maximise revenue with passes.

the other option is the Netflix one of raising the price every 2 years.

 

[dem]

Just when they are finally getting traction with the Xbox name on PC… they go and mess it up again.

Microsoft is so god damned stupid sometimes

 

[oldergamer]

It still has the xbox logo people. just relax.

 

[RoboFu]

Yeah, I missed that it’s ended.

HOLY SHIT! I just checked it and its still a thing both my Horizon 5 and Halo can be downloaded onto my pc and xbox. there is a new xbox app i didnt know about. it doesnt work throught he MSstore library is all.

 

[SportsFan581]

HOLY SHIT! I just checked it and its still a thing both my Horizon 5 and Halo can be downloaded onto my pc and xbox. there is a new xbox app i didnt know about. it doesnt work throught he MSstore library is all.

What? I've got an Xbox app on the PC but it annoyingly still seems connected with the store (always trying to log me into my primary windows account). Did they release a new one?

 

[Bernd Lauert]

This will definitely help the service.
Regardless what people think, the general public or casual audience, just isn't in the know.

I know game pass members that did not realise that Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 were going to launch on game pass till either I told them, or they just showed up on release lol

The marketing for Gamepass has been basically non-existant where I'm from. Most people don't know what it is or that it even exists. Maybe it's different in the US.

 

[ARK1391]

I'm mildly concerned about this? I can see them marking games as 'Xbox gamepass only' and 'Xbox and PC gamepass'. Would allow them an easier avenue to limit PC gamepass titles to push Xbox sales.

Hopefully not but, we'll see I suppose.

 

[Warnen]

Got game pass ultimate till june 2023 but fuck using it on pc is almost driving me to buy games. It’s horrible

 

[Topher]

Got game pass ultimate till june 2023 but fuck using it on pc is almost driving me to buy games. It’s horrible

One of the reasons I bought XSX.

 

[Chukhopops]

It’s a good idea to rebrand since some people see PC GP as just an extension of XBGP, which for a long time it was.

Those days games only being on console GP are the exception (like GTA SA) so the PC service can survive on its own value.

I guess the next step is a standalone Xcloud sub for cheap, probably once the cloud catalog reaches 200 games or so.

 

[elliot5]

What are y'all talking about play anywhere going away... Halo Infinite literally just launched and is Play Anywhere...

Anyway, this is a good rebrand. Xbox Game Pass for PC is a mouthful and when you are saying "Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming" it's a bit of a word salad. This helps trim it up a little bit and make it clear what's what.

Though it does SLIGHTLY separate the brands, although the logo is still used and it's accessed via the Xbox app on Windows. Still, a net positive.

The commercial was really good too lol

 

[octiny]

Good idea. I know quite a few Discord friends that would be confused at first when explaining it to them as "Xbox Game Pass for PC".

 

[Laptop1991]

It's obviously to try and boost PC gamers uptake of gamepass, which can't be that high or they wouldn't be doing it, older PC gamers like me remember GFWL and know the windows store is too like xbox and not enough like Steam and other PC client's, which is what we prefer, only time will tell whether it works, as of now i still won't buy my PC games off MS and there isn't enough new ones i don't own to rent them, younger PC gamers might though.

 

[Kilau]

HOLY SHIT! I just checked it and its still a thing both my Horizon 5 and Halo can be downloaded onto my pc and xbox. there is a new xbox app i didnt know about. it doesnt work throught he MSstore library is all.

Wait, I thought you were talking about something newly announced lol.

Some green rat you are!

 

[Shmunter]

Ms doesn’t care about the “box” that much going forward. That’s why they are selling a 4tf GPU in 2021. Hardware is meaningless, a sub is everything.

 

[The_Mike]

Nice, now let me play Halo infinite, it crashes always after the intro.....

Just play it on steam.

 

[anthony2690]

The marketing for Gamepass has been basically non-existant where I'm from. Most people don't know what it is or that it even exists. Maybe it's different in the US.

My step brother only just got it and was very surprised when I told him halo infinite is coming to it day one.
I'm in the UK, and I think it is advertised quite well, but then again I browse gaming sites etc, so maybe that is why I see adverts for it.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Makes sense.

Although they could had just renamed it PC Game Pass by Xbox.

 

[Warnen]

One of the reasons I bought XSX.

Can't even start halo now when i try pops open a game service app.... SO FUCKING BAD

Just gonna buy Halo from steam ugh

 

[jaysius]

Right...they removed the WORD Xbox, but kept the super recognizable X icon that is the XBOX logo.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

This is a plus in my book. I was genuinely annoyed when I tried to download Age of Empires 4 on my Xbox only to learn that the game being on "Xbox Gamepass" doesn't mean playable on Xbox. So stupid.

I did the same thing. Dumb of me, but I got pc gamepass for Halo Infinite, looked at the other available gamepass games and realized it wasn’t 1 to 1 with the console library. Obviously. Xcloud could change that though.

Btw, off topic, but Halo Infinite is excellent on pc. Looks great with the high res texture pack.

 

[TheRobot]

Good for people buying pc gamepass thinking it's Xbox gamepass.

 

[Graciaus]

Now Intergrate it into Steam.

 

[wipeout364]

Yeah, I missed that it’s ended.

It has not ended. It was always at the discretion of the publisher. You just need look at the games to see if they are in the program. Recent additions include Forza, Halo infinite, psychonauts, Sable, Evil Genius 2, forgotten city, True Colors, Back for blood, AI the somnium files. Aragami 2, and many others.

I wish it was more titles and it does have an effect on where I purchase a title sometimes.