Xbox Game Pass Platinum tier, hardware bundle, and iOS support incoming, hints Phil Spencer

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer has hinted at a possible, new tier for Xbox Game Pass that could allow access for Xbox hardware along the way, and that hardware could be a USB stick to stream games on a compatible TV.

Microsoft has never made a mystery about its will to reach as many screens as possible with Xbox Game Pass, and that has resulted in the service coming to Android devices as soon as last September.

“I think you’re going to see lower-priced hardware as part of our ecosystem when you think about streaming sticks and other things that somebody might want to just go plug into their TV and go play via xCloud,” said Spencer.

“You could imagine us even having something that we just included in the Game Pass subscription that gave you an ability to stream xCloud games to your television and buying the controller,” he added.

Hardware like a controller and a USB stick could come alongside an Xbox Game Pass Platinum tier, which could reach the market on top of the basic tier and the Ultimate, which currently includes Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass on console and PC, and the streaming option.

Microsoft has already experimented with bundles through the Xbox All Access subscription, including Xbox Series X and S consoles, and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription at a monthly price.

With that said, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is also aiming to release on iOS devices, even though Apple doesn’t seem willing to allow that.

“We have a good solution on iOS that I think it’ll be coming kind of early next year; I feel good about the solution that we have,” Spencer revealed. That solution is rumored to be a browser-based app that would work around App Store limitations for library of contents.