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Xbox Game Pass is one of the best gaming subscriptions you can get today. It gives you access to several popular games, especially Microsoft titles, for an affordable fixed monthly price. Furthermore, you get to try and explore games that you wouldn’t usually buy outright as they’re already included in the subscription.
But nothing is perfect, so you should also consider these drawbacks before signing up for a Game Pass subscription.
1You Pay Every Month, Whether You Play Game Pass Titles or Not
Most AAA titles cost between $60 to $70, meaning I could’ve bought three and a half AAA games with the money I paid Microsoft. While the more than $250 I paid over two years might seem cheap (which is one of thereasons why you should get Xbox Game Pass), it wouldn’t be exactly an efficient use of money if I don’t play games often.
For example, I used to play a lot of Need for Speed titles, Age of Empires 4, and even Forza Horizon 5. However, I’ve also started playing American Truck Simulator, Euro Truck Simulator 2, and Captain of Industry, which I’ve purchased directly from Steam.
Because of this, it has been months since I touched my PC Game Pass subscription, yet I’m still paying for it because I don’t know when I will get in the mood again to play my favorite Game Pass games.
2Your Favorite Game Could Disappear at Any Time
While most Microsoft titles will likely stay on Xbox Game Pass, there are several other games that are just simply passing through. For example, one of my favorite titles, They Are Billions, came with my PC Game Pass subscription in 2022. However, when I tried to play it in 2024, I found out that it was no longer included in Xbox Game Pass. This is similar towhen a PS Plus game would leave the service, so this downside is not exclusive to Xbox.
If I wanted to continue my saved game, I had to purchase the game directly on the Xbox store. While the game costs only $10.49, which is a pretty good price for such a great title, I’m kind of peeved that I must spend additional money just to play the game again.
But what’s worse is if a title isn’t available online anymore—for example,if the game is removed from Steam, Xbox, and other online platforms. Then I’m left with a game that I have no way of playing anymore, even if it’s installed on my PC.
3You Don’t Own Your Games
This brings me to another point with Xbox Game Pass and every other gaming subscription. In the past when you bought a game disc, you could say that you own the game. This is still partially true with Steam, as even if you don’t own physical media, you would still be able to access the game on the Steam library even if the studio that made it disappears.
However, gaming subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass merely let you borrow the games in its library. It’s similar to when you borrow a book from a library: you can read it, but you can’t give it away to someone else. And when the library asks for the book back (i.e., Xbox Game Pass stops carrying the title in its digital library), it will be returned automatically.
This is one of the reasonswhy gaming subscriptions won’t replace owning your own games, and why I still purchase Steam titles even though I already have an Xbox PC Game Pass subscription.
4You’ll Have to Wait a Bit Longer for Patches
Patches for games after their launch are now a common occurrence, meaning there might be a few times where you’ll need to update a game so you may enjoy its latest version.
However, some Xbox Game Pass titles might take a bit longer to get updated, especially those that might come from smaller studios. That’s because Microsoft has a certification process for every piece of software that goes through it, which might take some time. Some studios would release an update on Steam and other platforms without waiting for their update to go through Microsoft’s system.
This means some niche titles would take time to update if you installed it via Xbox Game Pass (or even bought it through the Microsoft or Xbox Store).
5You Might Miss Out on Some Awesome Titles
This happened to me when I bought my Xbox PC Game Pass subscription, and it wasn’t until the middle of 2024 that I purchased games again on Steam. This meant that I limited myself to Xbox PC Game Pass titles just because I wanted to make the most of my subscription.
