Microsoft last week quietly reintroduced its $1 first month promotion for new subscribers on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. This offer was retired back in March of this year, with the company announcing that it would be "evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future." Their research has clearly brought them back to square one—it is possible that the Xbox Games division is already reacting to negative feedback following an announcement regarding ongoing subscription and hardware price increases, as well as a decline in new player sign-ups since Spring time.

It should be noted that the console-only Game Pass tier ($11 per month) is not available as part of this 30-day starter promotion. The more expensive Game Pass Ultimate ($17 per month) is the only entry point on Xbox systems—customers are paying for a service that encompasses both console and PC platforms. PC Game Pass defaults to $10 a month, post the $1 introductory period. Microsoft has revised the conversion ratios for upgrades of Xbox Live Gold subscriptions to Game Pass Ultimate—from (the more favorable) 1:1 to 3:2. As an example—according to the new terms—90 remaining days of Xbox Live Gold/PC Game Pass converts to 60 days of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Microsoft has opened the floodgates, and allowed the huge PC and Apple devices market to enter the Xbox ecosystem via Cloud Gaming. Now you don't need to have a gaming PC or Xbox console. Now, you can be a part of Microsoft's ecosystem with whatever device you use - Xbox will always be there with you. This is the vision Microsoft is aiming at with the extension of Cloud Gaming to (almost) anything - with a simple browser, via its (currently Beta) xCloud for PC. Provided you subscribe to the Games Pass Ultimate subscription tier, of course. Which Microsoft is offering at $1 a month, with two extra free months, and then $12.99 a month.

However, there's a catch: if you want to be on the receiving end of Microsoft's franchises via Cloud Gaming, you have to possess a supported controller - Xbox offerings are the surest bets; however, PS4's controller is also supported). This happens because the stream is being originated in custom Xbox Series X consoles on the cloud - Microsoft's best performant hardware to date. However, it seems a way to adapt the stream from Xbox Series X's controller inputs and adapt them to the PC's native mouse and keyboard controller wasn't found. Streams will also be constrained by a less than optimal (but still very respectable) 1080p and 60 FPS limitations. Other than those caveats, if you don't have a gaming-capable PC or Microsoft's latest family of consoles, this is the way to enjoy gaming within Microsoft's franchises and all other partners through the ecosystem. Microsoft had already launched an xCloud app for Android smartphones, thus capturing most of the market in one fell swoop. The press release follows.