Is Game Pass Ultimate worth it?

So you’re contemplating signing up to another Microsoft subscription service and find yourself asking “is Game Pass Ultimate worth it?” 

While only you can ultimately (hah) answer that question, for me the answer is unquestionably “yes”. Here’s why.

Is Game Pass Ultimate worth it?

What is Game Pass?

You may have seen Xbox Game Pass talked about. It’s often billed as Microsoft’s ‘Netflix of games’, and that’s a pretty good way of thinking about it. You pay £7.99 per month and get unlimited access to the rolling collection of games on the service for as long as you keep paying. If you like the game a lot, you can buy it for a reduced price so it’s yours to keep, even if you stop subscribing or it leaves the service.

But there’s also Game Pass Ultimate for £10.99 per month, and this gives you a lot more value for a little more money.

Xbox Game Pass vs Game Pass Ultimate: What’s the difference?

First of all, Game Pass Ultimate comes with Xbox Live Gold. That means you get three extra bonuses: multiplayer on Xbox, 2 to 4 free games a month via Games with Gold, and discounts on Xbox One Games from Microsoft’s digital store.

But more importantly, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also covers PC. That means you get the whole ‘Netflix for games’ service across both PC and Xbox One. To be clear, this isn’t all PC games – not by a long shot – but if you own both platforms, it’s something of a no brainer, with (at the time of writing) 192 PC titles added to the 253 available for Xbox One.

Of course, some of those games are duplicated between platforms, which leads to the million dollar question:  

Can I share saves between Xbox One and PC?

The answer to that is “yes, but only for some games”. The system that enables this is called “Xbox Play Anywhere” and the list of games that support the feature is available here. Achievements also follow across platforms, which is nice. 

Generally speaking, first-party Microsoft games are included, and there are some big hitters there including Crackdown 3, Gears 5 and Forza Horizon 4. Sadly, however, you won’t be working through The Outer Worlds across platforms, despite both versions being on the Game Pass plan.

Is Game Pass Ultimate worth it?

If you have both an Xbox One and a PC capable of running console-level games, then you know the answer already. At retail price, it only costs £3 extra and opens up quite a lot more – especially if you enjoy multiplayer gaming on Xbox One.

Naturally, if your PC can’t run games very well and you’re not interested in multiplayer, then there’s really no need to pay extra. But for everyone else, subscribing to Game Pass Ultimate is seriously worth considering.