Games, there’s a lot of them. Too many, perhaps? That’s not a question I’m prepared to answer, but I can tell you definitively the best places to play them. Game subscription services have become nearly as numerous as streaming apps, and just like Netflix and Hulu, figuring out which ones to subscribe to can be a real struggle. Lucky for you, I’ve done the math and determined the quality (and quantity) of every game on each subscription service. This study includes data from Xbox Game Pass for PC, Ubisoft+, Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, and EA Play Pro, so if you want to know which subscription service has the best games, or just what the best games are on each service, you’ve come to the right place.
A few notes about my methodology before we dig into it. All review data was taken from the PC Metacritic score. If a PC consensus score wasn’t available, I used the highest Metacritic score possible. For EA, I analyzed the upgraded EA Play Pro library because it included the most games. For Game Pass, I ignored all EA Play games, even though they’re included with a Game Pass subscription. I also didn’t collect any data from PlayStation Now. While PS Now is available on PC, it includes 867 games and, frankly, ain’t nobody got time for that. I may explore PS Now’s library in the future, however. Finally, any games that did not have a Metacritic score have been recorded as ‘no score’. This means these games don’t count against the average, but I’ve included how many unscored games are featured on each service in the breakdown. Without further ado, here’s what I learned about every video game subscription service.
Xbox Game Pass For PC
Game Pass for PC is the most robust service included here. It includes 266 games, plus 119 games from the EA Play library. The Game Pass library has an average review score of 77.8 percent and a median score of 80. Here’s how those scores break down:
It’s worth mentioning that four of the 20 unscored games on Game Pass are “preview” early access games, which you won’t find on any of the other subscription services. What’s so impressive about Game Pass when compared to the other services isn’t just the size of the library, but the variety of the games too. You’ll find first-party Xbox games like Forza Horizon 4 and Halo, indie gems like Hollow Knight and Remnant, the entire Bethesda collection, including Skyrim and Fallout, and of course, the massive EA Play library.
But there’s some noticeable gaps as well. Game Pass has a strictly modern library. Outside of the Age of Empires series and a few inclusions in the Bethesda collection like Arx Fatalis, there’s barely anything on Game Pass made before the last console generation. There’s only three fighting games (Injustice 2, Power Rangers, Killer Instinct), four card games (Slay the Spire, Neoverse, Monster Train, Nowhere Prophet) and only a small handful of sports titles – although EA Play’s impressive collection of sport sims balances that out. Outside of those exceptions, Game Pass has the most eclectic selection available.
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Google Stadia
Stadia’s library is the smallest of the bunch. Currently, there are 26 games a Stadia Pro subscriber can claim, but if you’ve been a subscriber from the beginning you would have a total of 75 games today. This 75-game strong Pro library has a 75.2 percent average with a 76 median, while the current 26 game library has an average and median score of 75 percent. Here’s how those scores break down:
Assuming you aren’t already a Stadia Pro subscriber, you’ll only have access to a single triple-A game when you sign up, Hitman – The Complete First Season. While there are some well known indie titles like Hotline Miami 2, Terraria, and Little Nightmares 2, the Stadia Pro games are mostly pretty obscure. This could be a plus if you want to play something off the beaten path, but ultimately the number of titles you get here is pretty lackluster. You get some streaming quality benefits with a Stadia Pro subscription as well, but if you’re just interested in getting some games to play, every other option on this list is better. There’s just one game with a score above 90 percent — Celeste
Ubisoft+
The size of the library on Ubisoft+ is right down the middle with 124 titles. The games on this service have an average review score of 76 percent with a median score of 78. However, these numbers could be deceptive. Ubisoft+ has more unscored games than any other service thanks to a lot of older and lower quality titles like 2007’s Petz: Horsez 2. If all the unscored games were counted as 50%, the average for Ubisoft+ would drop down to 72 percent with a 76 median. Here’s how those scores shake out:
It’s tempting to just say you’ll like Ubisoft+ if you like Ubisoft games, but there’s a lot more going on here than just Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Tom Clancy. Ubisoft+ goes all the way back to the ‘90s with games like Heroes of Might and Magic, Anno 1602, The Settlers, and Panzer General. There’s a ton of classic Ubi stuff here that people might not have played before like Rayman, Brothers in Arms, Scott Pilgrim, and the South Park games. Of course, Ubisoft+ offers the most bang for your buck if you're an open world fan, but there’s also platformers, racing, strategy, RPG, and even some horror. There are five Prince of Persia games, which you might want to revisit before the remake comes out… someday.
EA Play Pro
EA Play Pro is a little bit difficult to nail down since it has two different subscriptions. The lower tier EA Play includes 119 games, which are also available with a Game Pass subscription, while EA Play Pro bumps the total up to 177 and provides unlimited access to pre-release and new EA titles. This gives EA Play Pro the second biggest library after Game Pass. EA Play Pro games have an average review score 77.8% and a median score of 78. Here’s the breakdown of review scores:
Like Ubisoft+, the kinds of games that EA are known for are only a small fraction of the EA Play Pro library. You get Dead Space, Battlefield, The Sims, and all Mass Effect and Dragon Age games, plus every Madden and FIFA going back to 2019, but there’s also a ton of games on here that aren’t even published by EA. It’s hard to identify any themes or patterns to the EA Play Pro library, but you’ll find popular titles like The Surge 2, Gone Home, A Plague Tale, Dead Cells, Shadow Tactics, and Inside here. One of the biggest selling points of this service is the Star Wars collection. There are 28 Star Wars games, including Lego Star Wars, Force Unleashed, Jedi: Fallen Order, the Jedi Knight series, and KOTOR. If you really want to dive into the depth of Star Wars game history, EA Play Pro even has the MS-DOS games like Dark Forces, Rebellion, and X-Wing Vs. Tie Fighter. After Game Pass, EA Play Pro has the most variety and the biggest selection of any service.
Amazon Luna
Luna is by far the most surprising service on this list. Though it’s technically only in beta, the Luna library blows Stadia out of the water and features heaps of well known games. This 82 game library has an impressive average review score of 79.5% with a median score of 81. There isn’t a single unscored game on Luna – making it the only subscription service here that could claim to be fully curated. Here’s the breakdown:
While Luna is by far the most curated service, it also feels a bit random. Games like Yakuza 0, Dirt Rally 2, Resident Evil 7, and Deponia Doomsday feel a bit out of place without any of their sequels and prequels. There’s only five true triple-A games here, but lots of quality double-A games like The Surge, No More Heroes, and Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The big problem with Luna is that practically everything it offers can be found on either Game Pass or EA Play Pro, so unless the streaming aspect is a big seller for you, you’re probably better off with a subscription that includes a bigger library.
Which Subscription Service Is The Best?
If you have to pick just one, Game Pass definitely offers the best value. That said, Ubisoft+ has the biggest collection of games you won’t find anywhere else, so if you’re a big open-world fan you might want to stick with Ubisoft+. EA Play Pro is also fantastic, but the fact that most of what it offers is also included with Game Pass makes it a tough sell. Surprisingly, Amazon Luna technically has the strongest roster of them all, though it also has the second smallest library. Stadia exists, but it’s becoming harder and harder to recommend it now when Game Pass Ultimate and Amazon Luna also offer cloud gaming and much better libraries.
As a final note, here’s the best games you can play on any streaming service, all tied at 94% on Metacritic:
- Skyrim (Game Pass)
- Oblivion (Game Pass)
- Mass Effect 2 (EA Play Pro)
- Celeste (Game Pass and Stadia)
- Halo 3 (Game Pass)
- Grim Fandango (Game Pass)
- Splinter Cell Chaos Theory (Ubisoft+)
- Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic (EA Play Pro)
All those spreadsheets just to find out what we already knew – Xbox Game Pass is great. Who’d be a journalist, eh?
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