Microsoft and Meta are bundling Game Pass into Horizon+, two unpopular companies joining forces
Two of the least popular tech giants are teaming up to bundle Xbox Game Pass with Meta Horizon+. I actually think it is a smart move.
Microsoft and Meta are not exactly the most popular or well-loved corporations right now, so I suppose it makes perfect sense for them to combine their services. Xbox Game Pass is coming to the Meta Horizon+ subscription as a new Starter Edition tier. It costs $7.99 a month and gives Quest owners access to a curated list of flat-screen Xbox games directly inside their headsets.
The bundle includes over 50 games. You get 10 hours of cloud gaming per month to stream titles onto a massive virtual display. Ten hours is a strange limitation for a gaming subscription. It is barely enough time to finish the tutorial in Fallout 4.
The fine print
While you can download the games to an Xbox Series X|S or PC, you must still have an active subscription to play them; they are not free for unlimited play without a subscription. The cloud streaming limit only applies to playing them through the Meta Quest interface.
Meta is also updating the Quest Touch controllers to emulate a standard Xbox gamepad. You will not need a separate Bluetooth controller to play Grounded in VR anymore. It works, which is the nicest thing I can say about it.
Corporate synergy
Microsoft wants Game Pass on every screen in existence. Meta wants everyone to live inside a headset. Jamming the two together feels like a corporate synergy bingo card brought to life.
If you already pay for Horizon+, getting a slice of Game Pass at no extra cost is a nice perk. I just do not see anyone buying a Quest 3 just to play Xbox games on a fake television.
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