Microsoft Hints at China Game Pass Push in Xbox App as 14-Year Console Ban Ended in 2014
Updated
Updated · The Verge · May 13
Microsoft Hints at China Game Pass Push in Xbox App as 14-Year Console Ban Ended in 2014
6 articles · Updated · The Verge · May 13
Project Saluki references in a new Xbox PC app update describe a "China market expansion" for Game Pass, Rewards and subscription tiers, signaling Microsoft is preparing a China-specific rollout.
China still lacks Xbox Game Pass even though Microsoft sells consoles and Activision Blizzard games there, with regulatory approval requirements leaving the local Xbox store far smaller than in other markets.
A tailored Game Pass catalog appears likely because every title must clear Chinese regulators, a hurdle that has complicated earlier efforts to launch the subscription service in the country.
Positron, another codename in the app, is described as enabling disc-to-digital conversion, reviving an idea Microsoft dropped during the Xbox One era after publisher and reseller backlash.
The app clues fit Microsoft's broader shift toward digital distribution, after launching the all-digital Series S in 2020 and a discless white Series X in 2024.
After a major price hike, why does Xbox's new CEO suddenly call Game Pass 'too expensive,' hinting at another big change?
Can Xbox's new disc-to-digital program succeed for its next console, or will it repeat the controversial mistakes of the past?