TGO Daily | September 10, 2020 | EA Play Headed To Xbox Game Pass
Today I tried something new in a few stories and gave you multiple links in a list-like format. I did this partly out of necessity, but there are always opportunities to try new things with this newsletter. Is it helpful to be a link dump so that you don’t have to find the articles yourself? Or is it always better to have full-length written explanations?
Now that the newsletter has been around for a few weeks, I would love to hear your input on how its going. Any pet peeves? Or things that you want me to keep doing?
Either way, thanks for being here :) Until tomorrow,
Adrian
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Xbox Series X details confirmed & EA Play heading to Game Pass for free
Yesterday we talked about the announcement of the Xbox Series S — well, Xbox just kept that ball rolling.
First they confirmed the launch details for the Series X, which largely followed the reports. It debuts alongside the Series S on November 10th, with a $500 USD price tag, and financing options in 12 countries.
Far more notable though is that EA Play (EA’s game subscription service) is officially going to be added to the Xbox Game Pass at no extra cost. So if you have a Game Pass PC or Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you will get the entirety of EA Play for free. Normally that would be an extra $5/month.
That integration will be available sometime this holiday, and if you didn’t know, will include most of EA’s back-catalogue — including franchises like FIFA, Battlefield, Mass Effect, Skate, The Sims, and more. If you want EA’s latest games via subscription, you would need to independently purchase EA Play Pro, their premium service ($15-20/month).
The value that Game Pass is bringing is starting to get unwieldy. Many people are pointing out that Xbox releasing a $300 console with the Game Pass as an option is going to be far more attractive than Sony’s (assumed) $500 console with fully priced games. And if Game Pass is going to keep getting content like this, I wouldn’t hesitate to agree.
Game release dates surrounding Xbox launch
To stay on the topic of next-generation consoles: a number of high-profile games have had their release dates adjusted, confirmed, or reaffirmed based around the new launch day for Xbox consoles.
Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla has had its release date moved up a week in order to be available day 1 on the new Xbox consoles.
Gears Tactics will arrive on consoles for the first time on day 1
Dirt 5 is releasing on November 6th for current-gen, with a free upgrade to next-gen, available day 1.
Watch Dogs: Legion is releasing on October 29th for current-gen , with a free upgrade to next-gen, available day 1.
Expect to see announcements like this from developers over the next couple of months — I likely won’t be covering them with any kind of depth, but I wanted to put it on your radar.
Gamestop Q2 financial results
(This one is for you, Ricky)
Gamestop has shared their Q2 financials, where they are still posting significant losses across the board. I haven’t talked about the company in a while because their story has largely been the same each quarter, but things are starting to recover for them following the pandemic.
They shared net sales of $942 million, with an adjusted net loss of $91.2 million. This is better than last quarter, which saw a net loss of $165.7 million due to COVID-19 closures, but worse than last year, which had an adjusted net loss of $32 million.
Their numbers have been going down for a very long time, and the pandemic did nothing to help that. We will see if the new generation of consoles can help them stay afloat, with hardware usually being a big seller for them.
Three game updates available today
There are three major game updates out today that you might be interested in!
The first expansion for The Outer Worlds has just been released, called “Peril on Gorgon.” Taking place on a new colony with a bunch of new content, it very much feels like “more Outer Worlds,” which is definitely nothing to complain about.
Sea of Thieves added an update today which has you hunting for treasure, Indiana Jones style. It looks like these quests are designed as late-game content, where you delve into a large vault to retrieve your booty. Oh, and they’re adding dog companions too.
The Star Wars themed Sims 4 expansion is out today as well. It takes place on a planet called Batuu, where you can do all the usual fun Sims stuff with iconic characters like Rey and Kylo Ren.
Also In The News
Digital Foundry: “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is one of the best games of the generation”
“How Stardew Valley Keeps Building On Success” - GameInformer
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