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Playing games after your Xbox Game Pass expires is not possible, meaning that you will need to have your subscription renewed. The games you previously installed will still be there, but you cannot play them. So, you will either have to buy the game again or reactivate your membership.
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Table of Contents
How Does An Xbox Game Pass Work?
A Xbox Game Pass is a type of monthly subscription that offers you access to many Xbox games for a quite low price. Some of the games that you can access with a Game Pass are made both for the original Xbox and Xbox 360. In other words, this subscription is convenient for your daily use.
Once you purchase your subscription, you will be able to use your Game Pass on various devices, such as Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, a mobile device, or PC. This means that your membership will be usable on many devices at low prices.
However, there are also several types of subscriptions, such as Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, that works on consoles, PC, and mobile devices, while offering you access to an Xbox Live Gold subscription. This means that you have the chance to choose whatever you find suitable for your needs.
In addition, once you become a member, you will manage your games simply and easily. You just have to press the button and open the guide, and your games will be shown under “My games and apps”.
It will display the games you have installed once you have purchased a subscription under “Games”, while you can browse the available games in the Game Pass catalog. We can find the catalog under “Full Library” after selecting “Xbox Game Pass”. You will find this quite convenient.
Why Is Xbox Game Pass Convenient For Players?
You might ask why would you need a Game Pass when you can just purchase the games you want with no subscription. This kind of subscription offers you great discounts, so you could really save up when purchasing games from the catalog offered by Xbox Game Pass.
To be more precise, you will be able to save up to 20% on Xbox games that are available in the catalog. In addition, you will save up an additional 10% on related game consumables and add-ons. This means that you can save a lot of your money, especially if you buy games frequently.
However, it is important to point out that these discounts that are offered for Game Pass members cannot be combined with other offers. They are usually available for about 30 days after the launch, and you can only use the services that are provided for Game Pass subscribers only.
You can always cancel your subscription and get a refund if that is applicable. In other words, if you are not satisfied, you might cancel your subscription even if the month has not passed and request your money back if you have applicable reasons.
Can You Still Play Games After Xbox Game Pass Expires?
As in every subscription, the same rules apply to the Game Pass Membership. This means that the services that are offered by this kind of subscription will only be available if your membership is active. In other words, once your Game Pass expires, you cannot play the games purchased in it.
The games that you have previously installed while your Game Pass was actively running will still be there in your menu. However, you will not be able to play them until you renew your subscription. To be more precise, nothing will be deleted, but you will not have access to your installed games.
Logically, this means that you will have to continue your Xbox Game Pass service in order to be able to keep playing your games. However, what if you still want to play the same games without the Game Pass subscription?
You may wonder whether you will still be able to access those games without subscribing. Luckily, Xbox has offered an option for this situation as well. Namely, if you do not want to continue your Game Pass membership, you will need to purchase the wanted game from the online Xbox store.
However, there is one more issue that imposes questions among users concerning the games offered in Game Pass. So, once you purchase a Game Pass subscription, you may play the available games as long as your membership is active and the games are still available on Game Pass.
Once the particular games are removed from Game Pass, you do not have the opportunity to play them anymore even if your Game Pass subscription is still active. This means that you will have to purchase the game if you want to continue to play it.
On the other hand, the games you have purchased from the online Xbox store will always be available for playing even after your subscription expires, or the game is removed from Game Pass.
The way in which Xbox Game Pass works might confuse many people because it seems that you have to pay additionally for the games one way or another. In other words, you either pay for purchasing the game, or for the continuation of your subscription.
However, when you know nothing about a particular game, your Game Pass subscription acts as a trial period in which you will see whether you like the game or not. This way you can explore many games and see which ones are worth making the purchase from the online store.
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How Long Do Games Stay On Game Pass?
The time in which games stay on Game Pass can vary greatly. Some may stay for over a year, while others can stay for up to 3 months. This usually depends on what the publisher wants to achieve.
For instance, some publishers keep the game on Game Pass until they reach the wanted rise of sales. So, if this is the case, the game will generally stay on Game Pass for about three months. However, some publishers may decide to keep it only for 30 days.
Sometimes, the publishers post part of their games on Game Pass for a particular amount of time, i.e. until another sequel is ready to be available to the public. So, if the sequel is ready in two months, the first part will stay on Game Pass for the same amount of time.
Some sequels need more time to be developed and get ready for the public, meaning that you will have the particular game on Game Pass for more time. In other words, there is no particular limit or date on which you can rely for all games in general.
Nonetheless, there will always be a notification about when a certain game is planned to be removed from Game Pass. So, you should not worry about your game suddenly disappearing from your Game Pass. You will also be able to see the removal date before you install a certain game on Game Pass.
You can also remove and uninstall games that you do not want even if they have not been removed by the publisher on Game Pass. So, you will just have to adjust your settings and delete the games from your Game Pass.
The Game Pass menu is easily manageable, so you will not have any issues. However, there is always an Xbox Support Team that you can contact for further information.