Leak reveals new Xbox Game Pass ‘Starter Edition’ that’s part of Discord Nitro keeps showing up in conversations for a reason. The story below covers what is actually happening, where the trade-offs sit, and what a careful reader should take from it.
Microsoft started teasing a mysterious Discord and Xbox Game Pass partnership yesterday, and a new leak appears to have detailed exactly what’s coming. Discord Previews has uncovered a new Xbox Game Pass “Starter Edition” that is bundled with Discord Nitro.
The Starter Edition reportedly includes “access to over 50 games from the Game Pass library,” as well as 10 hours a month of Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming and the ability to earn Xbox Rewards points while playing games. It’s not clear which games will be part of the more than 50 titles available, but the leaked images suggest that Stardew Valley, Grounded, and Fallout 4 will be included.
The Starter Edition doesn’t appear to be limited to Microsoft’s own first-party Xbox games, either. Better xCloud developer redphx also uncovered the Xbox Game Pass (Starter Edition) earlier today, and noted that a lot of third-party games will be available through this new Game Pass tier.
I reported in February that Microsoft is looking at ways to bundle third-party services with Game Pass subscriptions. This new Starter Edition appears to be a way for other services to bundle Game Pass. Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters told The Information last month that he and Xbox CEO Asha Sharma had “kicked around ideas” for partnering on subscription bundles, so perhaps we’ll see Netflix offer a similar Game Pass bundle soon.
