Microsoft just announced some price hikes and tier changes for Xbox Game Pass, its video game subscription service. The changes, which go into effect on July 10, were quietly announced on Xbox’s support site before being noticed by Wario64 and Windows Central.
The most notable change is that Microsoft will no longer allow people to purchase Game Pass for Console. While existing subscriptions won’t be affected, people will have to instead opt for Xbox Game Pass Core or the new Xbox Game Pass Standard tier, which is launching “in the coming months.” Xbox Game Pass Standard will cost $15 a month and give subscribers access to online multiplayer on consoles, but won’t support cloud gaming or have immediate access to “some games available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on day one.”
More importantly for current subscribers, price hikes are coming. These take effect on July 10 for new subscribers and September 12 for existing members. Here’s the breakdown of how each tier is changing in price in the United States:
2024 is shaping up to be a big year for Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft just brought the service to Amazon Fire TVs, and it’s getting plenty of exciting day-one games this year. Next week, Capcom’s Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess will launch on Xbox Game Pass. Later this year, first-party titles such as Age of Mythology: Retold, Avowed, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will also be added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as day-one titles.
Microsoft seems to think this is enough to justify a price hike and some significant changes to its popular subscription service. Personally, I find these changes very confusing and wish Xbox were clearer in its messaging about all this outside of saying that “these changes will enable us to bring members more value and more great games to Game Pass.”
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.