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Microsoft announced today the new games coming to Game Pass in August, headlined by Supergiant Games' smash hit Hades. Other notable additions include the remaster of Katamari Damacy and the first and third titles in EA's popular Skate series. There's also a premium Solitaire experience that is ad-free and features Xbox achievements and an exclusive Game Pass card deck. The full list of titles is below:

• Curse of the Dead Gods (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 5
  
• Dodgeball Academia (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
  
• Katamari Damacy Reroll (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 5
  
• Lumines Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
  
• Skate (Console) EA Play – August 5
  
• Skate 3 (Cloud) EA Play – August 5
  
• Starmancer (Game Preview) (PC) ID@Xbox – August 5
  
• Art of Rally (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 12
  
• Hades (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – August 13
  
• Microsoft Solitaire Collection: Premium Edition (PC) – August 17

The following titles will also be leaving the service throughout August:

• Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console) - August 8
  
• Ape Out (PC) - August 15
  
• Crossing Souls (PC) - August 15
  
• Darksiders Genesis (Cloud, Console, and PC) - August 15
  
• Don’t Starve (Cloud, Console, and PC) - August 15
  
• Final Fantasy VII (Console and PC) - August 15
  
• Train Sim World 2020 (Cloud, Console, and PC) - August 15

Source

 

[Bagel Le Stinky]

Makes me sad that I had to cancel my game pass subscription. I've always wanted to play katamari and skate 3

 

[Windaga]

Ooh, are we doing "cheaper game pass" tricks here? Can I mention the "lapse subscription entirely, buy cheaper Gold, buy a month of Ultimate, and let it all convert" one?

I thought they stopped doing this?

My Ultimate runs out on August 10th and I was trying to decide whether or not to renew it at the $15 a month price. But if I can get if for less...

I still think it's a fantastic deal, and the new games coming in (specifically Curse of the Dead Gods and Hades) are a whole lot of fun.

 

[tech3475]

Surprised by the lack of p*** taking over Solitaire's inclusion.

 

[SANIC]

Ooh, are we doing "cheaper game pass" tricks here? Can I mention the "lapse subscription entirely, buy cheaper Gold, buy a month of Ultimate, and let it all convert" one?

I'm pretty sure you can't do that anymore

Yeah just checked, 1 year of gold only gives you 4 months of Ultimate

 

[subcon959]

Surprised by the lack of p*** taking over Solitaire's inclusion.

I've been wanting an ad-free Solitaire game for my desktop for a while so I'm happy for that inclusion. If it's console-only then I'll be pissed off.

 

[CeeDee]

I'm pretty sure you can't do that anymore

Yeah just checked, 1 year of gold only gives you 4 months of Ultimate

I believe the trick is to let your subscription lapse entirely. Have no subscription going, get as much Gold as you can afford, then buy a month of Ultimate, it should convert 1:1 if you don't have an ongoing sub.

 

[SANIC]

I believe the trick is to let your subscription lapse entirely. Have no subscription going, get as much Gold as you can afford, then buy a month of Ultimate, it should convert 1:1 if you don't have an ongoing sub.

That trick now works if you buy three years

 

[CeeDee]

That trick now works if you buy three years

1 year's worth worked fine for me when I got my XB1 earlier this year. Probably gonna let it lapse and get three years' worth afterwards.

 

[Windaga]

I believe the trick is to let your subscription lapse entirely. Have no subscription going, get as much Gold as you can afford, then buy a month of Ultimate, it should convert 1:1 if you don't have an ongoing sub.

It seems to be a case of: Add Ultimate to Gold, not Gold to Ultimate
I found this on resetera's forum about it:

If you have never had a GPU sub, then you buy three years of XBL and convert it to GPU for $1, at which point your 36 months of XBL get converted into 36 months of GPU.

If you used to have a GPU sub that is no longer active, then you buy three years of XBL and pay $14.99 for a month of GPU, at which point your 36 months of XBL gets converted into 35 months of GPU (plus the one month you just bought for $15).

If you have an active GPU sub, it does a value-for-value conversion and your 36 months of XBL gets converted into 10 months of GPU.

Which seems to follow what both of you are saying. The idea seems to be going from no subscription (whether by letting it lapse or just not having one) to buying up to 36 months of Gold first, then getting Gamepass Ultimate. By getting GPU last, it converts your current Gold Live into GPU months.

Either way, I'll be able to test it pretty soon, so I'll let you guys know.

 

[CeeDee]

It seems to be a case of: Add Ultimate to Gold, not Gold to Ultimate
I found this on resetera's forum about it:



Which seems to follow what both of you are saying. The idea seems to be going from no subscription (whether by letting it lapse or just not having one) to buying up to 36 months of Gold first, then getting Gamepass Ultimate. By getting GPU last, it converts your current Gold Live into GPU months.

Either way, I'll be able to test it pretty soon, so I'll let you guys know.

Yeah, that's what I was trying to say. Hell, Xbox once detailed the trick in an official blog post of their own.
I don't think it's something they'd 'patch out' but rather it's intended, but only works with those specifics (no subscription, Gold first, then GPU) Probably intended largely so that people with an existing Gold sub who want Game Pass don't have their subscription artificially shortened.

 

[CoolMe]

MS wins either way customers chose to subscribe to their service..