It"s shaping up to be a big Xbox news day and its big games showcase has not even started yet. Alongside new abilities for Xbox Cloud Gaming, more countries supporting Xbox services, and Game Pass integration on Samsung TVs, Microsoft also revealed today another new feature for Xbox Game Pass. The company will be offering players demos of upcoming games to try out before they launch as a perk for the subscription program.
Project Moorcroft is what Microsoft is calling it internally, and deeper details are still scarce. What it did announce today, is that the plan is to launch the new feature in 2023 with a focus on indie developers to offer a trade show-like experience.
"Participating developers will be able to see how their demos perform, and be compensated, enabling them to bring their creativity to Xbox and reach new audiences with Game Pass," explains Microsoft in today"s blog with multiple Xbox announcements.
The gameplay slices will be curated by Xbox services teams, meaning not every upcoming title will offer demos.
What"s interesting is that Sony is going forth with a similar demo/trial plan of its own for the newly revamped PlayStation Plus tiers, which directly compete with Microsoft"s Xbox Game Pass offerings. In Sony"s implementation, players have two hours to try out a game and make a purchasing decision.
Unfortunately, unlike PlayStation players who will get this feature this month, Xbox players will have to wait until next year to see what Microsoft"s exact plans are for this demo feature, and which subscription tier it will be available on.