Microsoft announces Xbox All Access with Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold, and Xbox One S or Xbox One X console for $22 or $35/mo on a 2 year contract in US
Microsoft today confirmed the rumors: Xbox All Access is a new subscription offering that ties a console to Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for two years.
Context & Ripple Effects
Days after Windows Central reported the plan, Microsoft has confirmed Xbox All Access: an Xbox One S or One X bundled with Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass on a two-year US contract at $22 or $35 per month. It is Microsoft's first attempt to sell the console itself as a monthly service rather than a $200-plus upfront purchase.
The arc that follows is telling: within four months Microsoft announced the program would end on December 31 and return in revised form, and by mid-2019 it had folded Live Gold into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — before reviving All Access internationally with a next-console upgrade option.
First-order effects
- US buyers can now finance an Xbox One S ($22/mo) or One X ($35/mo) over 24 months with Game Pass and Live Gold included, trading upfront hardware cost for a credit-style commitment.
- Microsoft converts each console sale into a two-year services relationship, locking subscribers into Game Pass and Gold from day one instead of upselling them later.
Second-order effects
- Bundling hardware with subscriptions pressures rivals to respond with their own financing-plus-service packages rather than competing on console sticker price alone.
- The structure sets up internal tension Microsoft itself hit by December: a bundle that discounts services alongside hardware risks cannibalizing standalone Game Pass and Gold revenue, which is where the revised-format decision points.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, console generations stop being discrete purchases: the 2019 relaunch's Project Scarlett upgrade option shows hardware refreshes becoming a swap inside a standing subscription, with the platform owner controlling the upgrade cadence.
- Subscription attach becomes the metric that matters — the console is priced as customer acquisition for recurring services, mirroring how Microsoft later merged Gold into Game Pass Ultimate to simplify the funnel.
The trend: Console gaming is shifting from one-time hardware sales to financed hardware-plus-subscription bundles, with Microsoft iterating rapidly — kill, restructure, revive — to find the version that scales beyond the US.