They’re transferring to owned?
I don’t think so. That was what was originally reported, but if you watch the Xbox GP Core TLDR video they posted, they indicate that you will need a sub to access them. Time stamped video below:
Oh that’s a major disappointment… damn. 
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The different tiers being renamed confused me but assuming things are still kinda the same, ill be able to have Core and Console at the same time, right? I wanna keep access to online multiplayer but I still wanna sub to Console for a month every now and then to play some GP stuff.
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Yep you should still be able to sub to both simultaneously
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IMO it’s confusing branding for parents and people new to the ecosystem, even though this entire convention makes things a bit more straightforward in terms of naming.
Telling parents “You need Xbox Live to play online” makes way more sense than “You need Game Pass Core to play online” when “Game Pass” is referring to the games rental service.
I somewhat understand the desire to have the phrase “Game Pass” standardized with various tiers but there is also value in having various features with their own unique name, so that Ultimate can be easily conveyed as a bundle of services.
The pricing is odd too, because you’re getting hundreds of more games for $1 more a month. The discounted yearly rate isn’t clear from the beginning.
The bottom tier holds a lot of value, but only if purchased with the yearly discount. Otherwise, it’s a poor value as for only $1 more a month you get 300+ games.
I understand the motivations behind a lot of this but it feels like the execution is a bit confusing.
I like the idea of a “Gamepass Lite”. I like the idea of adding more value to the “Xbox Live” service (that people have argued shouldn’t even exist).
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So on console, can you get Gamepass, get 300 games, and then discover that one of those games need you to pay for online gaming as well ?
Yes, ESO, Fallout 76, Sea of Theives and Exoprimal being good examples of games available on GP Console but not playable.
MS should find a way to make online free for gamepass games.
It would be nice, I myself would have thought they would have added online to Console. But I guess it could be seen as degrading GPU’s value, since you get access to most games and get online for console.
So it would look like if we don’t play on PC or play EA games we likely wouldn’t need it.
This is where I am too. I understand the appeal of unity under the Game Pass banner, and having differentiated offerings. I care about the catalog and not online multiplayer, whereas (most) others would prefer the other way around. Having a way to address both types of consumers for about the same amount is tempting.
Where it falls apart for me is calling the cheapest tier “Core” despite it having a component a more expensive tier doesn’t.
And like EPC said, I feel like the average person who would want Call of Duty and online play would be frustrated if they bought either Core or Console and were told to upgrade for an extra 6-7 bucks a month. That’s a pretty significant increase.
Ultimate offers cloud, EA Play, PC, and perks. I don’t think the casual gamer would care about cloud (at least until it gets more accessible) or PC. The appeal of EA Play would be in sports games I think, but there’s a delay on new games for EA Play, right? I don’t know if people would be happy playing FIFA 2018 or whatever.
For my part, setting aside all deals and whatnot I’d be satisfied with Console. PC and perks don’t matter to me, EA Play is barely a blip, and I’d miss the cloud aspect I guess, but not enough to pay that big a difference.
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From my observations, EA sports games hit EA Play 6 months after release. I assume other EA games release in a similar time frame.
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Thanks, that’s helpful. I’m still not sure how much value that would have to the kind of person who loves to buy annualized sports games, but it’s something!
I think Madden hits around the Super Bowl and NHL when the playoffs begin (at least the last couple of years). I’m not sure if FIFA/EA FC lines up with anything in particular but I think similarly lands around the end of Winter or Spring (although it was late this year likely because of some deal with PS…edit: actually that was last year…having kids has completely destroyed my perception of time).
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Its nice to have options. But for me anything other than Ultimate is a waste of money.
MS want us to think that Ultimate is not so far from any of the other options, so let us upgrade.
I only pay 13 for Gamepass Ultimate, so annually or something, it is even cheaper.