Xbox's 50 Free Games For PC Owners Offer Comes With A Massive Catch
Topics: Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft, PC
Featured Image Credit: Microsoft
Topics: Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft, PC
Under the new leadership of Head of Gaming Asha Sharma, Microsoft is making huge strides to finally fulfil its strapline of 'being where gamers are'.
The Xbox Game Pass, specifically, is being subject to an overhaul as the company announced a 23 percent price drop at the expense of Call of Duty no longer launching as a 'day one' title on the subscription.
Now, an entirely new tier is expected to be released for a select portion of players, and, again, it comes with a catch.
The reshuffling of the Xbox Game Pass has already been announced, as Shama cited that the $30 a month Ultimate Tier fee was 'too expensive', with all players feeling the effects of premium Activision titles inflating the tiers.
Another handful of subscription tiers could also be on the way, as rumours have it, Xbox and PC gamers will be able to choose the benefits that they want.
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Another low-value tier is also reported to be coming, as The Verge claims that a new 'Starter Edition' is coming.
This leak suggests that PC players will get ten hours of cloud gaming to enjoy each month, with over 50 free titles to enjoy, such as Stardew Valley and Fallout 4.
Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass "Starter Edition" just leaked. It's going to be bundled with Discord Nitro subscriptions, and includes 50+ games and limited cloud streaming. Full details here 👇 https://t.co/DyKuMkADFb pic.twitter.com/rhWs4TFEH5
— Tom Warren (@tomwarren) April 23, 2026
The pricing of the subscription hasn't been revealed, but it's also expected to include Discord Nitro, given that it is targeting PC gamers.
However, some people have pointed out that the leaks don't include online multiplayer - in fact, the report goes out of its way to say that it isn't included.
The rumoured subscription ensures that 'online multiplayer' isn't referenced, unlike the usual Xbox Game Pass tiers, which are all required to play with friends.
Quickly taking note of this, online players called it an 'L'.
There could be a few reasons for this, though.
The first is that the free games included in the Starter Edition subscription will be purposefully picked single-player games - but that its contradicted by the inclusion of Stardew Valley, unless it's not the complete version of the game. Fallout 4 famously doesn't have an online multiplayer experience.
Or, it could be that online multiplayer isn't required in the future. Essentially, cloud gaming will soon mean everyone is online, so all subscriptions will include the feature; Subscriptions wouldn't need to market online play in the lowest-tier of subscriptions, as the consoles will have cloud gaming baked into them.
READ MORE: PC Owners Can Get Over 50 Free Xbox Games, Here's How