TL;DR: Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass---and newly named PC Game Pass---has seen its popularity rise this year, thanks partly to the number of games hitting the service on launch day. If you've ever wondered how much all the titles Microsoft added in 2021 would total if bought individually, we now know the answer: over $6,300.
The last 12 months have arguably been the most enticing for anyone considering signing up to Xbox/PC Game Pass. Both Psychonauts 2 and Forza Horizon 5, two of our favorite games, received day one releases. There was also The Medium, The Ascent, and Back 4 Blood, but the headliner of 2021 was December's Halo Infinite Campaign.
Additionally, this last week has seen Firewatch, Mortal Kombat 11, The Gunk, and Broken Age all added.
Those are just the biggest names added to the service. The Loadout has done some calculations and found that if every title added to Xbox/PC Game pass this year were bought from the Microsoft Store, the total amount would be $6,317.35.
The publication found that users got the most for their subscription fee in March when almost two dozen Bethesda titles worth $964.67 hit the service. There's a good reason why: it was the same month that Microsoft's $7.5 billion acquisition of ZeniMax was approved, bringing all of Bethesda's games under the Redmond firm's roof.
A total of 30 Bethesda titles were added to Xbox/PC Game Pass in 2021, with a total value of $604.71---just under 10% of the value of the entire year's additions. April offered the least value, with all the new games totaling $330. That's still good compared to the $9.99 monthly fee ($14.99 for Game Pass Ultimate).
Xbox Game Pass has over 100 titles available and boasted more than 18 million subscribers as of January 2021; a figure that is likely a lot higher now. It does have several competitors, including Uplay Plus and PlayStation now, but Microsoft's combination of price and extensive library marks it out as the top game subscription service.