Xbox has just unveiled Game Pass Flex, a free service that leans on the extensive library and digital streaming power of the Xbox ecosystem to bring a selection of the platform’s top titles to players on a budget. The only caveat is that Game Pass Flex takes traditional loading screens and replaces them with full-screen ads.
This means that, as you play one of the games under the Game Pass Flex banner, you’ll be regularly subjected to unskippable, unavoidable ads. But hey, the service is totally free, so what more do you want?
Game Pass Flex is the Answer to Expensive Subscriptions
If you’ve been wanting to dip your toe into the Game Pass ecosystem without parting ways with your hard-earned cash, then the Game Pass Flex service might be for you, given how it’s totally a real thing…
Today, Xbox announced the instant arrival of this free tier, which is supported by an innovative ad-based system.
When you play a game via Game Pass Flex, you’ll be presented with full-screen ads every time there’s a loading screen.
The team at Xbox also confirmed that users can play for longer to earn ‘Ad Tokens’ that will allow them to skip certain ads earlier, presenting a nice incentive to keep gamers grinding for hours on end.
In a statement, Xbox’s VP of Strategic Honesty, Nott Reely, said:
At Xbox, we’re committed to delivering what we call Transparent Value Alignment. With our new Game Pass Flex tier, we’re giving players more choice than ever, allowing them to enjoy wonderful gaming experiences fused with contextually enriching advertisements.
Some might call them interruptions, but we prefer to think of them as immersive micro-moments that boost engagement and retention.
Speaking exclusively to Insider Gaming on the news, Bethesda Game Studios’ Hodd Toward explained:
This is nothing but great news for gamers worldwide. With Game Pass Flex, we can leverage our patented loading screens, which you’ll see across every game we have ever made, to promote all kinds of products and services.
This is why we still have such extensive loading screens across our gaming estate. We could have seamless transitions between interiors and exteriors, but now we can use that pause to inject an ad into your experience, keeping you guessing about what might come next.
Game Pass Flex launches today, April 1st, but it’s available exclusively for users who have never subscribed to Game Pass before. That means you can’t cancel your paid subscription to accept the ad-supported tier.
Do you think you’ll take advantage of Game Pass Flex? Let us know on the Insider Gaming Discord server if you fell for this blatant joke of a post.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that GTA 6 might be getting a ‘crime-free’ mode at launch
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
april fools?
I hate April fools
“Xbox’s VP of Strategic Honesty, Nott Reely” lol. Ofc it’s April Fools.
A joke today reality tomorrow
You got it! Gently sneaking it out as a joke to see how ppl react. Then bam! Loading screens start taking longer or popping up more frequently to show ads and commercials. Remember this has been talked about for a few years now, this is not the first time they mentioned this, joke or not their intentions are clear.
April fools much?
Hmmmmm I wonder if this is coming to PC in the not so this-tant future!
I think it’s a sad state of affairs when this could be posted on a day other than April Fool’s, and it would be a plausible, greedy move by Xbox.
only reason I knew it was a joke was because it was free
How would this even be greedy? Providing something free that’s normally paid, so it’s supplemented with ads.
haha april fools!
You fell for an April’s fools joke
I knew it wasn’t real when it stated it was free lol
Why are jokes always consumer friendly decisions? Yea ads are bad. But to play free games?? That would be huge!
I believed it until the very end of the article
The thing that makes this an April Fool’s joke is that it will be free. In reality Microsoft is charging $9.99 a month for this.
Nice one people I even told my wife that it was great news seeing as we are very humbled by our live check to check living after finishing the article I’m actually saddened by the news although I’m laughing at how stupid I feel for believing that a huge company like Xbox would be that kind
Can’t wait for gta6 when is it coming out
Reading this the day after April Fools and wouldn’t have been surprised if it was real. In fact, with all the decisions companies have been making lately to be slimier than their colleagues already, I DID think it was real until I saw VP of Strategic Honesty, Nott Reely.
And I’m a Game Pass member, no XBox hate, they’re just that ridiculous lately.
Not much of a prank when Microsoft is legitimately floating the idea of an ad based Game Pass
I believed it initially because we all know this kind of Game Pass tier is coming at some point. But the “it’s totally a real thing” pretty early in the article made it obvious satire.