Xbox Game Pass is about to show up on a phone bill. T-Mobile today announced T-Mix, a new set of wireless plans that let customers spend “Picks” on included perks, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Premium are both on the menu when the plans launch in November. Xbox confirmed the deal on Xbox Wire, calling it “the first time that XBOX Game Pass will be available through a wireless plan in the U.S.”
How many Picks Game Pass costs
The catch is in the math. According to T-Mobile’s official plan chart, Game Pass Premium costs 2 Picks and Game Pass Ultimate costs 3 Picks. Here is how that lines up with the three plans (prices are with AutoPay, before taxes and fees):
- T-Mix Standard: $55 a month for one line with 1 Pick. One line can’t cover either Game Pass tier. Two lines ($85) give 2 Picks, enough for Premium, and three lines ($100) give 3 Picks, enough for Ultimate.
- T-Mix More: $75 a month for one line with 2 Picks, enough for Premium.
- T-Mix Loaded: $95 a month for one line with 3 Picks, enough for Ultimate.
For comparison, Xbox sells Game Pass Ultimate for $22.99 a month in the US after its April price cut, which works out to about $276 a year. Premium is $14.99 a month, or about $180 a year.
Is it worth it?
Game Beacon’s take: this only makes sense if Game Pass is the perk you want most. On a single Loaded line, Ultimate uses all 3 Picks, so there is nothing left for Netflix, Hulu or YouTube Premium, which are also on the list. Families on multiple lines get more Picks to share, which is where Ultimate starts to look like a real saving.
T-Mobile says partner Picks can be swapped four times a year: during three change windows plus an Annual Remix window. That means you could take Game Pass for a big release season and switch to a streaming service later without changing your plan.
Keep two things in mind. Xbox’s plan page lists monthly limits on cloud playtime, with 15 hours on Ultimate and 10 on Premium, so phone gaming through the cloud is not unlimited (we covered Xbox’s new pay-as-you-go cloud playtime packs last week). And since April, new Call of Duty games no longer join Ultimate at launch, so Modern Warfare 4 is not included.
What we don’t know yet
Neither company has said exactly who counts as “eligible,” whether an existing Game Pass subscription can be moved over to T-Mix, or the exact November start date. T-Mobile also says T-Mix will come in discounted versions for 55+, military, first responders and college students. We will update this story when T-Mobile publishes the full terms. If you’d rather pay for games directly, our Xbox Shocktober deals roundup is still live.
