When Microsoft announced Xbox Game Pass, many believed it would be, similarly to PlayStation Now, simply a service to give a second life to older games. Yet, it appears that it's much more than that.

Today Microsoft announced that Sea of Thieves will be available to those subscribing to the service on the same day as its physical and digital standalone release on March 20th.

This is not all, as the same can be said for all "new Xbox One exclusive games from Microsoft Studios" going forward, including already announced ones like State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3, and unannounced games like the new Halo, Forza, and Gears of War.

Starting on March 20th,  6-month Xbox Game Pass subscription cards will be made available at select retail partners including GameStop. They will be priced $59.99, and this means that you can walk into a store, and instead of buying a shiny new game, you can just grab six months of subscription and get to play all the new games released by Microsoft in that period.

Of course, the difference is that with Xbox Game Pass you have access to the games for a limited time until they get rotated out, and you need to purchase them (for a discounted price) if you want to keep them forever. Yet, there is no denying that at $9.99 the service offers massive value.

Xbox boss Phil Spencer accompanied the announcement with a statement, mentioning that Microsoft has "only scratched the surface" of what this new model can bring to the fans and the industry.

"We’ve only scratched the surface of the opportunity this new model brings to the industry and what we can deliver to our fans. We firmly believe Xbox Game Pass will be a catalyst to create new opportunities for game developers and publishers to innovate in the way games are developed and delivered, leading to entirely new ways to play."

If you want to learn more about Xbox Game Pass, you can check out the latest update to the service's lineup, and watch a recent commercial released by Microsoft.