Subscribers to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass can now manage their subscription and download new games on the go, thanks to a new app that has made its way to the Google Play Store. The Xbox Game Pass app allows Xbox One owners to peruse the hundred-plus collection of games available to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, then choose which ones to download to their machine. If the Instant-On option is enabled on the Xbox, it will even wake up and download the chosen games instantly, ensuring that they’ll be ready to play the next time the user fires up the console.
The Xbox Game Pass app presents you with a list of featured and popular games on the Game Pass service. The newest ones added to the service are presented first. For this month, new entries include the likes of Hitman and Ryse: Son of Rome. Classics from the Halo series are also on board. If a game is included on Xbox Game Pass, you’ll find it in the app. Tap on a game, and you’ll get a description, some screenshots, and the option to install it, along with an indicator of how large it is. If your Xbox has the space, just tap the button to install the game right then. It is worth noting that Xbox Game Pass members do get a discount on non-Pass games, but you can’t use that in the app; it only shows games that are included in the $10 per month service.
This new app further tightens the integration between Android and the Xbox ecosystem. Microsoft has embraced Android of late, and is making efforts to tie Android users into its Windows and Xbox ecosystems with smooth integration and a number of feature-rich apps that help to improve the multi-device experience. For those who are more of the Sony persuasion, the PSN app in the Play Store offers a similar level of functionality. If you have PS Plus, for example, free games will be indicated as such and can be downloaded to your PS3 or PS4 instantly, just like with games that you would have to pay for.