More performance for Xbox Series S and Game Pass Family in the test

On August 5, 2022By Garmin Philip

gaming

Microsoft allows development studios access to more memory in the Xbox Series S. The manufacturer is testing Game Pass use for up to five accounts.

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Xbox players can look forward to future improvements.

There are exciting developments for gamers in the Xbox ecosystem with consoles and PC. On the one hand, Microsoft released a new Game Development Kit (GDK) for game studios in June. GDK is basically the same as a Software Development Kit (SDK) – just marketing-wise branded for games. To this GDK from June 2022 Microsoft now has one Video released that promises more power for the Xbox Series S – the entry-level console of the current Xbox generation.

Compared to the Xbox Series X, the S version does not have 16, but only 10 GB of RAM. So far, 8 GB of this has been freely available to developers, while the system has reserved two gigabytes for itself. The GDK changes the ratio in favor of the games, resulting in new reserves. Microsoft speaks of several hundred megabytes that are more available: which doesn’t sound like much, but can definitely bring visible or noticeable changes on an optimized console. (Upcoming) games still have to be adjusted, so the change will not be noticeable immediately. After all, Xbox Series S users do not have to buy a new console.

On the other hand, Microsoft is testing changes to the Game Pass in the Insider program. The game subscription, which costs up to 13 euros per month in the Ultimate version, offers a Microsoft account access to a large catalog of console and PC games. We will provide information about this in our list of Game Pass games. In Colombia and Ireland “Insiders” (beta testers) can now share the subscription with up to four other accounts. The catalog of games can be shared via invitations.

It’s unclear how Microsoft will price such a family plan. Current testers are converting their Ultimate subscription to a family plan, which rolls down 30 days of Ultimate to 18 days of the new model. That would correspond to a good 25 euros. Microsoft’s announcement shows that account sharing may extend beyond one household. The only restrictions are that “family members and friends” must be in the same country. However, all-access subscribers, who typically use console and Game Pass “for rent”, are excluded from invitations.

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