Home
Games
Games News
Xbox Game Pass to Get Demos of Upcoming Games as Part of Microsoft’s Project Moorcroft

Xbox Game Pass to Get Demos of Upcoming Games as Part of Microsoft’s Project Moorcroft

In a move similar to Sony’s reported mandate for PlayStation Plus game trials.

By Akhil Arora | Updated: 9 June 2022 17:30 IST

Xbox Game Pass to Get Demos of Upcoming Games as Part of Microsoft’s Project Moorcroft

Photo Credit: Microsoft

No word on what the first Xbox Game Pass demos might be

Highlights

Project Moorcroft begins rollout “within next year”
Will be focused on independent developers initially
Xbox will compensate developers for these demos

Xbox Game Pass members will soon be able to enjoy demos of upcoming games, in what the Microsoft-owned gaming giant is terming Project Moorcroft. This is the first time we've heard of this programme's existence at Xbox. No games have been named as yet. Project Moorcroft will begin its rollout “within the next year”, the Xbox team said. Initially, it will be focused on independent developers, with the aim to provide them “more opportunities to get data about, and build excitement for their games.”

Microsoft also noted that developers will be “compensated” for these demos, and they will be able to see how their demos perform on Xbox Game Pass. That last bit sounds like an attempt by Microsoft to get ahead of criticism that Xbox Game Pass doesn't make money for anyone, including developers. (It remains a great offering for Xbox and PC gamers though, helping them save money depending on how they approach the service.)

While Microsoft is the first to publicly announce plans to bring demos to its game subscription service, it's not the only one trying to do so. In late April, a report claimed that Sony has mandated two-hour trials for all upcoming games — that cost north of $34 (roughly Rs. 2,600) — to bolster its enhanced and revamped PlayStation Plus offering. But unlike Microsoft, Sony reportedly isn't offering “any extra perks”, which suggests developers won't be compensated for the demos.

“When we create different options for creators around how they choose to monetise, we're giving them more creative freedom at the same time. And we feel that we have a critical role in that, so the more we drive that innovation, the cooler and more innovative games are going to come out of leveraging that innovation,” Xbox's corporate vice president for game creator experience and ecosystem Sarah Bond said in a prepared statement.

“We think about how can we invest to make it possible that those game creators can be successful and it's really about three things,” Bond added. “It's about the player community, [...] investing in development tools, [... and] business models and business model innovation — giving them multiple paths and options to have economic and financial success.”

Microsoft revealed Project Moorcroft on Wednesday in a blog post on Xbox Wire. The first Xbox Game Pass demos are expected “within the next year.” Meanwhile, the new PS Plus has already begun its global rollout, and arrives June 22 in India. But there's no confirmation on PS Plus demos, let alone word on when the first ones are expected.

Missed Apple's WWDC 2022? We discuss every major announcement on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Microsoft Xbox Series X

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Really powerful
Delivers constant 4K 60fps
Reduced loading times
Great backward compatibility
Support for Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos
Capable of 8K / 120fps
Network transfer feature

Bad
Expensive
Lack of truly next-gen exclusives
Not a generation leap over Xbox One X at launch
Proprietary storage expansion
No rechargeable battery with controller
Implementation of Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos

Read detailed Microsoft Xbox Series X review

HDD 1TB PCie Gen 4 NVME SSD

Processor Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz

Graphics Custom AMD RDNA 2 GPU 52 CUs @ 1.825GHz

RAM 16GB GDDR6

USB 3

Weight 4.45kg

Ethernet Gigabit

More Microsoft Gaming Consoles

Microsoft Xbox Series S

KEY SPECS
NEWS

HDD 512GB PCie Gen 4 NVME SSD

Processor Custom 8-core AMD Zen 2 CPU @ 3.8GHz

Graphics Custom AMD RDNA 2 GPU 20 CUs @ 1.565GHz

RAM 10GB GDDR6 RAM

More Microsoft Gaming Consoles

Microsoft Xbox One

KEY SPECS
NEWS

HDD 500GB, 1TB

Processor AMD Jaguar 1.8GHz 8-core

Graphics AMD GCN Radeon 853MHz

RAM 8GB

AV S/PDIF out, IR-out, Kinect port

USB 3 USB 3.0 ports

Weight 3.5kg

Ethernet Yes

More Microsoft Gaming Consoles

Microsoft Xbox One S

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Gorgeous industrial design
Sweet form factor
No power brick!
Whisper quiet

Bad
Robot white is easy to smudge
OS concerns still persist

Read detailed Microsoft Xbox One S review

HDD 500GB, 1TB, 2TB

Processor AMD Jaguar 1.75GHz 8-core

Graphics AMD Durango 2 GCN 1.0

RAM 8GB

AV HDMI-out, Optical Out

USB 3 USB 3.0 ports

Weight 2.9kg

Ethernet Yes

More Microsoft Gaming Consoles

Microsoft Xbox One X

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Good
Worthy upgrade over the Xbox One S
Improves a lot of games
Excellent build quality

Bad
Not available officially yet
Microsoft’s download system needs work

HDD 1TB

Processor AMD Jaguar 2.3GHz 8-core

Graphics AMD Radeon GCN 4.0

RAM 12GB

AV HDMI-out, Optical Out

USB 3 USB 3.0 ports

Weight 3.81kg

Ethernet Yes

More Microsoft Gaming Consoles

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.

Further reading: Xbox Game Pass, Project Moorcroft, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass demos, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Microsoft, Xbox