By the end of the day today for most people, the Entertainment tab on the Xbox One dashboard will officially be dead and gone. Movies and TV Shows are still going to be available of course in the Microsoft Store app, but replacing it will be a brand new tab dedicated to the Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox Game Pass has steadily grown both in quality and quantity in recent months, and after test driving the change for insiders last month, according to Xbox, feedback was overwhelmingly in favor of featuring Xbox Game Pass more prominently in the dashboard.
The move makes total sense. Xbox Game Pass looks like it’s going to be an Xbox staple at least for the rest of this generation, and likely the next. If someone is going to purchase/rent something from their Xbox One, I’d wager most people already know what they are looking for and aren’t just browsing around, that’s what Hulu and Netflix is for. The Entertainment tab was a waste of real-estate.
Now, it’s going to be much easier for subscribers to browse around what’s available, and non-subs will have more temptation dangling in front of them.
Xbox has been playing catch up all generation long after the botched reveal and the strong start from Sony. However, one space where Xbox is absolutely leading the way is in their games subscription service. Game Pass really is an outstanding value, and in recent months with the addition of games like The Division, Fallout, and Rocket League, has been upping the quantity of eye-grabbing games.
Whatever Xbox’s future plans are for the Xbox One and whatever is next their next console is, I hope that an expanded Game Pass is a key part of it, and this layout change in the present-day dashboard is a sign of that.
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