Microsoft has a new monthly financing program for the Xbox One called Xbox All Access, according to a blog post over at the Xbox website. The program allows users to commit to a two-year plan where they pay monthly for either an Xbox One S or an Xbox One X and subscriptions to both Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass.
The Xbox One X bundle, which costs $35 a month for two years, is in line with the roughly $860 a person would normally pay for everything included. The Xbox One S bundle, priced $22 a month, is about a $130 cheaper than buying everything it includes. Of course, this back of the envelope math doesn’t take into account future price drops for the hardware or the Xbox Live and Game Pass discounts that regularly pop up, but it still looks pretty good considering it’s an interest-free way of buying the hardware today and paying for it years down the road.
The appeal of the financing deal is also heavily based around Game Pass, considering it involves subscribing to the $10-a-month service for two years. The program lets you download and play games from a growing library of over 100 as if you owned them for as long as you’re a member. While rough at launch, Game Pass has continued to improve and now includes a number of exclusives since the day they launched like Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2. At Gamescom last week, Microsoft also announced that the new and improved Halo: The Master Chief Collection will be coming to it on September 1.
The program’s not a total surprise, given Microsoft’s struggle to move hardware this console generation. The company stopped releasing sales numbers for the Xbox One in October 2015 and has more recently focused on the number of people subscribed to its online services as its key metric for tracking growth and success. Offering a low-cost way to finance an Xbox One X or S tied to Xbox Live Gold and Game Pass is certainly one way to try and grow its ecosystem.
While more details for the specifics around the program aren’t yet available, Venturebeat’s report does call Xbox All Access a “limited-time offer” only for “qualified customers.” We’ve reached out to Microsoft for further clarification on how the program will work and when it will begin.
This story has been updated to reflect that Microsoft’s official announcement of the program has gone live.