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It’s been clear for quite some time now that Xbox is adopting a shift in strategy.
The company isn’t leaving its consoles totally behind. After all, Xbox president Sarah Bond has already teased the Series X/S’s successor.
Alongside this though, it would be wrong to ignore the Xbox’s clear swivel towards Game Pass as the company’s flagship product.
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Xbox Game Pass has undergone several changes as of late, namely in the form of a price hike.
Certain tiers will now be locked out of day one launches, while membership stacking has also been limited.
The locking of day one launches behind the service’s Ultimate tier hasn’t gone down well, but Microsoft is a business at the end of the day.
If less Xbox consumers are to be playing from a console, lessening hardware as an income source, that income has to be made elsewhere.
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Why are consoles on the decline? Well, Xbox is pushing a new “You don’t need an Xbox to play Xbox” marketing campaign.
The changes mean that new subscribers will have to purchase Ultimate memberships to access Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 later this year.
As a part of this campaign, Microsoft recently revealed that Amazon Fire Stick users will now be able to access Game Pass directly from the stick without the need for an Xbox console.
Building on this, we’ve since seen the first ‘Play Xbox without an Xbox’ bundle launched.
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Those who want to try out the green brand can do so for $79.99 thanks to a new console-free bundle that includes an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, a month of Game Pass Ultimate, and a white Xbox Controller over on Amazon.
You can see why this might lure people in.
Game Pass has always been the jewel in Xbox’s crown. This $80 bundle is a pretty reasonable way to get a slice of that, compared to the traditional route of spending several hundred dollars on a new console.
Needless to say, those who purchase this bundle will have to continue to purchase a Game Pass membership in order to keep playing so it’s not an $80 one-and-done deal.
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It’ll be interesting to see how this cheaper alternative is received though.
Topics: Xbox, Microsoft, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, Xbox Game Pass