Ubisoft+, which lets players download and play more than 100 Ubisoft titles, will soon make its way to Xbox consoles. That’s great news for fans of Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, Splinter Cell and about a dozen other popular series. However, it won’t be part of Xbox Game Pass, which means players will have to pay a separate subscription fee and probably navigate the selection through a different interface. That’s arguably bad news for existing Game Pass subscribers.
Information comes directly from Ubisoft, which announced the news in a blog post entitled "Ubisoft+ Coming To Xbox And Rainbow Six Extraction Launching On Xbox Game Pass." (You have to give the company credit for being straightforward, if nothing else.) Just as the title suggests, Ubisoft+ will be available on Xbox sometime in the near-ish future; Rainbow Six Extraction will be on Xbox Game Pass when it debuts on January 20.
Unfortunately, Ubisoft didn’t provide many details about when and how Ubisoft+ will be available on Xbox, save to say that it "will be coming to Xbox in the future." Like its PC counterpart, Ubisoft+ on Xbox will let players access more than 100 titles for a single monthly cost (currently $15 per month), which includes all relevant DLC and cosmetic items.
What we don’t know is whether Ubisoft+ on Xbox will be a download service or a streaming service — or both, as Xbox Game Pass currently is. We don’t know how much it will cost, exactly what the game library will be or whether there will be any additional Xbox Game Pass overlap. It’s worth noting that we also don’t know whether it will work on last-gen Xbox One consoles, or only current-gen Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S consoles.
On the Rainbow Six side of things, the situation is a little clearer. Rainbow Six Extraction will debut on Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on Jan. 20, which is also when the game will launch on other platforms. The game supports cooperative cross-play, so Xbox and PC gamers can play together. The game itself is a multiplayer third-person shooter, which requires players to band together against increasingly difficult sci-fi foes, upgrading their characters as they go.
Regardless of how Ubisoft+ ultimately works on Xbox Game Pass, it’s interesting to note that Ubisoft’s approach here stands in stark contrast to that of its competitor, Electronic Arts. EA Play is available as part of Xbox Game Pass, at no extra cost to gamers, letting players access games such as Star Wars Squadrons and Knockout City on both Xbox and PC. Ubisoft+ will apparently require a separate subscription, and it’s not hard to see how another $15-per-month gaming subscription might feel a little superfluous.
In any case, Tom’s Guide will try out Ubisoft+ once it’s available on Xbox consoles. In the meantime, you can try it on PC or via Amazon Luna if you want to see how it works at present.
