Xbox One Update Gives Its Netflix-Style Game Pass A More Prominent Home

Microsoft has updated the Xbox One dashboard, giving its Netflix-style subscription program a better chunk of real estate. The Xbox Game Pass now occupies its own main header tab, sandwiched right between the Community and Store tabs.

Microsoft said in the announcement that this move follows feedback from fans that requested a faster way to find and discover the Game Pass offerings, as more players are going directly to the Game Pass menu to check out anything new. The company rolled out testing the new placement with Xbox Insiders in June, and the positive reaction led to widespread adoption.

The update not only gives more prominent placement, but also curates the content better. The new menu highlights popular and new Game Pass games, spotlights ones with DLC, and has recommendations based on your other downloaded games.

As one category rises another falls, though. The new Game Pass tab replaces the Entertainment tab on the dashboard. Microsoft notes in the announcement that you can still find the entertainment content inside the Store, where you can purchase movies, TV shows, and music like always. Still, the reduced prominence is hard to read as anything but another step back from the "all-in-one" always-online entertainment hub that made up the initial Xbox One pitch.

Xbox Game Pass adds a spate of new games every month for a $10/month subscription fee to download all you'd like from the library. These usually come on the first of the month, though sometimes release dates vary. The company announced that August adds Hitman, Ruiner, Ryse: Son of Rome, The Escapists: Walking Dead, Dandara, Dead Rising 2, and Kinect Rush: A Disney Pixar Adventure.