Xbox Game Pass is now included, in truncated form, as part of Discord Nitro, and it seems like Microsoft is really getting serious about giving subscribers a good deal.
Discord and Xbox shared news of the companies' teaming up on May 11, in separate announcements on their respective websites. Microsoft promises more benefits to come for current Xbox Game Pass subscribers, too, as CEO Asha Sharma seemingly continues her humble quest to lower subscription prices in an industry where everything is unrepentantly getting more expensive.
Discord Nitro subscribers now have access to a new "starter edition" of Xbox Game Pass as part of Discord's fresh Nitro Rewards benefits program. Discord product manager Lu Zhang writes in the messaging platforms' announcement that the starter Xbox Game Pass includes "a library of 50+ PC and console games you can download and play anytime you want," plus 10 hours of cloud gaming. Its benefits sound similar to Xbox's preexisting, $9.99 a month Essential Game Pass tier, then.
But, since Discord Nitro also costs $9.99 monthly for its premium version of the platform and it includes that starter edition Game Pass, this subscription seems more worthwhile for Discord users. Zhang names "Fallout 4, Stardew Valley, DayZ, Deep Rock Galactic, Overcooked 2, Grounded" as part of the starter edition tier, with more to come. The product manager tells Discord users, "We're rolling these benefits out to members over the coming weeks, so if you don't see them yet, they're on the way. If you've been on the fence about Nitro, this is the update we'd want you to see."
As for how the other half lives, those already subscribed to Xbox Game Pass should expect to receive Nitro benefits "later this month," says Microsoft, including a monthly allowance of 250 Discord Orbs you can redeem for rewards in Discord's Shop.
These changes come right after new Xbox CEO Sharma said in a leaked internal memo that Game Pass was "too expensive for players" – Ultimate became $30 in 2025 – and emphasized that the service needed to become "a more flexible system." Shortly after this memo went out in April, Xbox announced it was dropping Ultimate's price to $22.99, and lowering PC Game Pass from $16.49 to $13.99 a month. So that takes care of Sharma's first point, that Xbox's game subscription service is too expensive.
Xbox and Discord's suddenly egalitarian partnership, then, addresses her second: Game Pass should be "more flexible." Microsoft's collaboration announcement even borrows this language, explaining, "We're teaming up again as we continue to make Game Pass more flexible for players."
The company adds, "We've been focused on meeting players where they already are and making gaming more social along the way." Considering Xbox's lousy sales numbers recently, that strategy sounds ideal.
