Is it still worth paying for Xbox Game Pass?

The Thursday Letters page recommends The Finals and other free-to-play titles, as one reader suggests a new retro-style God Of War game.

If you want to join the discussions yourself, please email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Change levels
Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Microsoft insist a few months ago that there wouldn’t be a new, more expensive tier for Game Pass? I looked it up and this is exactly what they said, in response to the rumours: “At launch, Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be playable on Xbox and PC for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass. for console members.”

That’s just not true. Xbox Game Pass for console won’t even exist by the time Black Ops 6 comes out and what they’re replacing it with won’t include Black Ops 6. Either they’re knowingly lying or they’re changing plans so quickly they’ve done a complete U-turn in just two months.

I very much regret getting the Xbox Series X/S instead of the PlayStation 5 and won’t make that mistake again, especially since I expect most games to be multi-format anyway within a year or two. Apparently Game Pass didn’t work and is just more expensive and restrictive. Microsoft says most people have Ultimate, but given their track record, why should I believe them?

I didn’t have it and I’m certainly not paying for it now that the cheaper tier is so watered down. As far as I’m concerned, Game Pass just isn’t worth the money and I’ve had enough.
Benson

Place your bets
I don’t think my memory is playing tricks on me, but didn’t Microsoft say they wouldn’t be changing the Game Pass tiers for Call Of Duty? I guess someone did the math and realized it wasn’t a good idea. For a company that can waste $72 billion like it’s pocket money, they don’t seem to have much of a plan.

How many billion business managers could they have hired for that kind of money to give them better advice than Phil Spencer and his cronies? Or just ask ChatGPT. It really is about time we start replacing our leaders with artificial intelligence rather than creative people who actually contribute something worth playing.

I wasn’t interested in Call Of Duty so it doesn’t really concern me, but Microsoft seems to be continuing a slow downward spiral as they first deny something is going to happen and then announce it in the next breath. How long is anyone going to bet it will be before they announce more multi-format games? A month or two?
Surtur

Dead zone
We’re kind of in the dead part of the year at the moment, for new games, as usual in the summer, but I find myself looking forward to Star Wars Outlaws. I know I shouldn’t and it will probably just be shallow and unoriginal, but I love the universe and if nothing else the graphics look really good.

I think games have now reached a level in terms of graphics and basic gameplay quality – which generally never will that already bad – that even with an unoriginal or repetitive game you will have a lot of fun. Now the pleasure is to experience the world itself and not even what you do in it.

For me, that’s definitely the appeal of something like Assassin’s Creed, where the story isn’t even that important, it’s just the comfort of knowing you can do anything, go anywhere and enjoy the sights. I think that’s why the Elden Ring did so well because it’s similar except it’s super heavy. So it’s kind of the flip side of the same thing.

I wouldn’t want it to be like this all the time, but I can enjoy both approaches: the super hard hardcore game and the super easy casual ones.
Davis

Router Advisor
I have Elden Ring installed on my PC, yet it keeps kicking me out of the game due to frequent loss of connection. How can an online streaming device work the way it does? It might be the router that Plusnet provides, but I couldn’t dream of streaming any games.

Half the time my Xbox Series X can’t even connect to the network. My PS Vita/Wii U had to be brought down to get the slightest connection.

Can any readers recommend a better third party router, hopefully under £100?
Bobwallet
He is currently piercing beds for Mesmer the Impaler.

Character Actions
I know there is a lot of talk about a semi-sequel to God Of War coming soon, like Spider-Man: Miles Morales, but wouldn’t it be great if we could go back to the old style of games? I miss those, and while I like the new games, they’re so different, it basically means we’ll never see them again.

I think it would be great to connect the last two games with any new setting with an old school adventure game, it doesn’t even have to be Kratos. The old God Of War games were pretty much the only Devil May Cry western style game out there and I think it’s a shame that it’s gone.
Zippo

Free advice
For a reader asking about free games, I would recommend The Finals. Fantastic game, me and the kids poured hours into it and didn’t spend a dime. Or even a penny.

Great, tight matches, brilliant physics of destruction and just plain fun. I warmly recommend.

GC’s review of Squad Busters recently made me download it quickly and… I can’t stop playing. Great game loop and very fun mechanics. Maybe not for everyone, but I appreciate it for what it is. And polished to heaven. Whatever that means.

Finally, my favorite game right now is Population One on Meta Quest. Just a fantastic atmosphere. Again, me and the kids poured in the hours and wasted nothing, just game after game of laughing and working as a team. I don’t get enough credit, I think it’s great.

Did you watch it GC? It used to be a paid product, but they moved it to free a while ago. Great community, mapmaking if that’s your bag, and just constant fun.
Pugmartin

GC: We didn’t realize it was free now, we only played it briefly at launch.

Football pass
So Microsoft saw fit to increase Game Pass. I personally have no objections to him. I’d be quite happy to pay a little extra to get early releases. But from what I’ve seen and read I can’t tell if I get Ultimate will I still have access to the PC library? Or will I have to play for that too?

I’m an avid football manager player and I won’t be able to play.
Mark

GC: Ultimate still includes consoles and PC as far as we understand.

A horrifying revelation
Well, the reveal of the Nintendo horror game was definitely unexpected! What is it? Who does it? Why are we only hearing about this now? Of course, I have no idea, but it’s such a welcome surprise. As GC points out, Nintendo isn’t as adverse to horror games as you might think. Geist were also kind of creepy and had a lot of interest in Resident Evil during the GameCube era. So while it came out of nowhere, it’s not unprecedented.

I just hope it has nothing to do with Bloober Team. I have no idea why they became the go-to horror developer, but I’ve never liked any of their stuff, it’s just dumb scares and bad storytelling. The joke for Eimo is vague enough that it’s not clear if it’s made in Japan or not, but I think the fact that its original name is apparently Japanese suggests that it probably is.

Will it come out this year? Who knows, but I’d love for it to come out around Halloween and be another surprise hit that would make last year’s Switch even better.
Woogie

Inbox is also running
I don’t even play Apex Legends and I am outraged by what EA has done. It almost looks like a tax write off or something where they are purposely trying to tank it as fast as possible. If that’s the goal, they seem to be succeeding.
Tackle

Is it Sony or Edge trolling the Bloodborne faithful?
Wonk

Send your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Small font
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxs on the weekend. Reader letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500-600 word reader feature at any time via email or our Submit Content page, which will appear in the next free weekend block if used.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget Follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: The best free-to-play video game, the Apex Legends crisis and BioShock 4 worries

MORE : Games Inbox: PS5 Pro release date prediction, Shadow Of The Erdtree love, Bioshock 1 remake

MORE: Games Inbox: Fears PS6 will be a flop, Nintendo PC games and GTA 6 vs. Call Of Duty

This page is protected by reCAPTCHA and Google’s privacy policy and terms of service apply.