Xbox All Access - Is it worth it?

Xbox All Access, Is it good for gamers and the industry as a whole?

First, let me explain what Xbox All Access is, Xbox All Access is a service which allows consumers to purchase an Xbox One S or X with Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Games Pass and pay for it over 2 years with a payment plan. The starting price is $22 for an Xbox One S and $35 for an X and it is currently only available in the US by going into a Microsoft store and applying for the finance there, however you can get pre-approved by applying via Dell's online application, which will speed things up when heading to store to get your shiny new Xbox.

Is it good for gamers? Yes is the simple answer to this. Families who were unable to fork out the full amount for an Xbox can now get one on credit and the best way to think about it is the same as the mobile phone industry. We pay a monthly subscription, mainly over 2 years to get the shiniest new phones on the market, so why not an Xbox?
It is an option that is going to allow more gamers/families who want an Xbox or to indeed maybe upgrade from an S to an X to do that. At first glance, it’s is great, you have a steady income and can afford the monthly repayments, however, what would happen if you couldn’t make those repayments?

Something unfortunate happens, you lose your job, or you have an accident which you’re hospitalised with and now have medical bills to pay for, what happens then? Trouble is brewing, the debt will build in an ever-growing world where debt does seem to spiral out of control, not just on an individual level, but economic and business level too.

I am presuming that because the finance is being provided by Dell Preferred Account, it would be them that would chase you up for the payments, they’re the ones you have borrowed the money from and not Microsoft.

It is something that would need to be there in the back of everyone's mind when making this sort of decision. However, with all the checks that take place beforehand, you can guess that the credit won’t be given to anyone, a strong credit rating is probably going to be needed to take this out.
Another thing for us to look at is the pricing of the plans. $22 and $35 respectively, now, these are probably going to be done against the prices of each individual item from the Microsoft store. So let’s have a look at these…

Xbox One S - $300, Xbox Live (x 2 years) $120, Games Pass (x 2 years) $240.
The above comes to $660 in total, and these are the prices from the Microsoft store online, so basing this on the $22 a month over 24 months, that comes to $528. So this will give you a fairly massive saving against purchasing outright and individually.

Xbox One X - $500, Xbox Live (x 2 years) $120, Games Pass (x 2 years) $240.

Again, with the above coming to $860, paying the $35 a month is going to come to $840, so you’re still going to save $20. Not much, but still a saving.

It’s all well and good that on the above you’re going to be saving money by doing the finance option, which I would add is also 0% APR, so there is no interest on it at all. The only thing that I would mention is that throughout the year you’re always going to get other offers coming in, for both console and subscriptions. Take the $2 for 2 months Games Pass offer that has been around lately, I myself took this offer up as it was available to all.

Again, there are also offers on gold, which usually accounts to the same amount, retailers will have discounts on both subscriptions, at certain times these can be 50% or more for a year, so when it’s that price a lot of people may buy 2 years’ worth for the price of a year. It’s a no-brainer at the end of the day, offers that good sometimes have to be taken up.

The consoles also get reduced, again, you look at peak times during the year like Christmas/Black Friday, Summer sales and January sales, there are always going to be reductions if you’re patient enough.

If you can save the $22 or $35 a month and wait for an offer to crop up, you may get a better deal without having the payment plan hanging over your head. But I guess that is again down to the individual person, if you’re comfortable doing it and it suits you, I would say go for it, it is a good offer and a good way to get hold of an Xbox in the here and now. However, if you don’t mind saving and being patient, I reckon if you shopped around at the right times you would be more inclined to probably find a better deal, especially when it comes to the subscriptions.

We would love to get your thoughts on this and what you think. Would it be suitable for you? Or would you prefer to save up and get the best deal? Let us know in the comments below.