There is no denying that Xbox Game Pass is one of the most attractive business models. It allows subscribers to download and play hundreds of games spanning multiple genres, from triple-A blockbusters to indie industry favorites, all for one low monthly subscription. It usually receives a lot of praise, but today we are talking about Xbox Game Pass for PC, where the situation is not so rosy. Xbox Game Pass for PC is the antithesis of its console counterpart. While Game Pass on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S offers its own neat and tidy dashboard section, the PC app is still a disorganized nightmare. Plagued from day one with issues like a confusing interface, semi-hidden options, poor optimization, page load errors, and more, Xbox Game Pass for PC isn't worth watching. And that's a real shame, considering what Xbox Game Pass for PC does. For one, it's bolted to your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, so there's no need to pay extra for the service. There are also a ton of games available for PC that aren't on the console version of Game Pass, like Crusader Kings 3 and the Age of Empires series. Xbox Game Pass for PC may be great, but the following five issues are holding the service back.
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Unresponsive browsing experience
Checking all the games available on Xbox Game Pass for PC should be an easy task, but the app ensures that it isn't. Clicking on the "All PC Games" tab takes you to an overview of all the games available in the app, but it regularly seems to stop loading the page arbitrarily. As you scroll through the list, you will often come across a block where the page stops scrolling. It's not because you've reached the bottom of the page (that's right, MotoGP 20 is definitely not the last game on the alphabetical list), but rather that the page has decided that it won't, it would charge more. This can be fixed by scrolling up a bit and then scrolling down again to reveal more games that the app previously refused to show. But you have to do it continuously until you reach the bottom of the page and sometimes it doesn't even work. For comparison, Xbox Game Pass on console doesn't have this problem: "All Games" will show you all the games from the beginning, which makes this PC error even more aggravating.
(Image credit: Miguel Lagoa)
Lock your own storage
Xbox Game Pass for PC is home to many games with large file sizes, such as Gears 5, Control, and Dirt 5. What you may not know is that you might want to think twice before even installing them on your system, so you don't lose that storage space long after you uninstall the game. The problem here is that you don't technically own the games present on the Xbox Game Pass service. Instead, your monthly membership gives you access to library games, most of which are only available for a limited time. As such, your PC often needs to store crucial files in a "locked down" part of your storage to ensure they can be managed on the server side. This changes game by game, but some users have reported that they can't reclaim that storage after uninstalling a game; those files are still locked forever. The worst part is that the official solution from Microsoft seems to be to either restart your PC via Run or ask for help via the Windows Store app troubleshooter, which is not helpful advice for those who aren't that PC-savvy, and a boring solution for those who are.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
The double connection combo
Interestingly, this is not a bug. Xbox Game Pass for PC may not work as expected if you are not signed in to two different stores with the same account. Simply put, you need to sign in to the Xbox Game Pass app for PC and the Microsoft Store with the same account. Because? Because the app is linked to a disaster in the Windows 10 store. If you are not signed in to the Microsoft Store, you will not be able to play the games you downloaded in the Xbox Game Pass for PC app. To fix this problem, click your account icon in the upper right corner of the Xbox Game Pass for PC app, then click Settings. On the Account tab, click "Change my Microsoft Store account" and make sure you're signed in to both services with the same account. It shouldn't even be a step, but it's something to keep in mind every time you open the Xbox Game Pass for PC app.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Fewer basic sorting options
If you're an avid PC gamer, you probably won't have as many games installed through Xbox Game Pass for PC as you would on Steam, for example, so you'd think sorting through your minimal library of downloaded games would be easy. . And yet the first game's ranking options are too basic. The Collection tab on the left of the Xbox Game Pass for PC app shows all the games you have installed. The problem here is that there are few or no options to sort these games to your liking. You can display them alphabetically or in reverse alphabetical order, and that's it. Compare that to Steam, where the ranking options are much stronger. You can create your own folders for specific types of games, for example. I personally love fighting games, so I have a folder in my Steam library dedicated to that. On Xbox Game Pass for PC, I just can't sort my installed games by genre, file size, or anything like that. Of course, most of the libraries installed in Xbox Game Pass for PC won't be monolithic, but additional sorting options can never hurt and only add to the overall accessibility of the app.
(Image credit: Microsoft)
Style instead of substance
Xbox Game Pass for PC falls into the same trap as Windows 8 and (to a lesser extent) Windows 10: the need to make the app look flashy and fancy while leaving functionality behind. As a result, Xbox Game Pass for PC isn't well optimized, especially if your PC doesn't have the high-end components needed to run the app properly. It also doesn't help that screenshots, purchase options, DLC, and achievements are brought to the fore on each game's dedicated page. The system requirements are hidden under the "More" option, which is much smaller than it should be and crucial. Accessibility information, such as photosensitivity warnings, is also hidden at the bottom of this menu, rather than displayed on the home page of any game to help minimize risk. So Xbox Game Pass for PC has a lot of work to do if it is to be as organized and easy to use as its Xbox console counterpart. If Microsoft can fix these issues, it will show that Xbox Game Pass is a great platform for both consoles and PC. Therefore, it is to be hoped that the above problems will eventually become a thing of the past.