Google Releases Play Pass Subscription Service for Over 350 Apps and Games in US

Google is officially releasing its Play Pass in the US this week; other countries will follow soon. It is a subscription service for games and apps from the Play Store, where users have access to more than 350 games and apps for Android for a fixed amount per month.

Google writes that a subscription means that these more than 350 apps are completely unlocked and available for free in the Play Store. The apps that fall under the subscription are marked with a Play Pass symbol, but a separate Play Pass tab has also been created for subscribers in the Play Store to make it easier to find the content. A Play Pass subscription can be shared with five other family members.

Characteristic of the subscription service is that there are no ads and no in-app purchases, making Google Play Pass similar to the recently available Apple Arcade. Also in terms of costs, the two services hardly differ: Apple Arcade costs 5 euros per month and Google Play Pass 5 dollars per month, although a subscription costs 2 dollars per month in the first twelve months. The main differences are that Google Play Pass is not about exclusive apps and that the collection does not only consist of games.

The collection of apps and games that fall under the subscription include well-known titles such as Terraria, Monument Valley, Risk, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and AccuWeather, but there are also the necessary lesser-known apps and games. Google says new titles are added every month.

The Play Pass service, which was previously tested, will be available sometime this week in the United States and will soon be available in other countries. Google does not report which other countries it concerns exactly and when the service will be released in those countries.