Xbox Games Pass and more Xbox Exclusives are coming to the PC

Plus Win32 for the Windows Store

Xbox head Phil Spencer has announced that the wildly successful Xbox Game Pass for the Xbox One console is headed to the PC. The gaming subscription will offer more than 100 games to its users and will even feature all Xbox Studio’s games Day 1.

Subscription services are not only the future, they are the present. Netflix might be the premier entertainment subscription for TV and movies but game companies have long understood that the future of gaming is in subscriptions as well. Thus, Xbox started their own service with the Xbox Game Pass two years ago on their Xbox One home console. The great value paired with audiences more and more getting acclimated with digital entertainment services led to it becoming a runaway success.

Last Fall, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella briefly touched on the tech giant’s plans to bring the Xbox Game Pass to the PC platform. Not much was disclosed at that time but now we get the real deal. Xbox Boss Phil Spencer has now officially announced their plans to bring their gaming service to the PC. The name will stay the same, Xbox Game Pass, but it will enable PC users to get access to a large library of more than 100 games. Just as it is the case on the Xbox, first-party Microsoft games will be included into the service Day 1. In terms of pricing we are expecting the same affordable price point of the Xbox sub but Microsoft will officially announce more details about the Xbox Game Pass for PC on June 9.

Today’s announcement had even more surprises, however. Spencer also confirmed that more than 20 Xbox Game Studios games are coming to the PC by way of the Windows Store and Steam. This comes as great news since many PC users aren’t too fond of the Windows Store’s user experience and the store’s usage of the restrictive Universal Windows App distribution format. Spencer has also good on that front. The Windows Store will now also allow traditional Win32 programs which should be a delight for every gamer.