Well this is a bit different. From today, Telstra postpaid mobile and internet customers will be able to add an Xbox One onto their plans as an entertainment option a la Foxtel Now or Kayo, thanks to an exclusive partnership with Microsoft.
If you're a Telstra customer keen to add an Xbox to your plan, you'll have two options. $27 per month will get you an Xbox One S with Forza Horizon 4 and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. $38 per month will get you an Xbox One X with Forza Horizon 4 and an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. In both cases, you'll be paying off the console over 24 months. If you want cancel your contract early (or if you want to leave your Telstra plan), you'll need to pay out of the rest of your console repayment. These plans are available to both new and existing customers.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is perhaps the most interesting part of the offer. Game Pass Ultimate is Microsoft's Netflix-for-games subscription service that gets you access to over 100 titles across PC and Xbox, including recently released games like The Outer Worlds. It also includes Xbox Live Gold, Microsoft's online gaming service.
If you cancel your Telstra Xbox plan, you'll still maintain access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The two-year subscription is included in the box as a voucher. This does however mean you can't just cancel the Game Pass component early, and you'll need to pay the standard rate - $15.95 per month - if you want to keep using the service after your two years with Telstra are up.
Surprisingly, the 24-month cost of a Telstra Xbox One plan can be a saving when compared to buying the console outright. If you're after the Xbox One S, you'd pay $648 over 24 months. Based on current retail prices, an Xbox One S and two years of Game Pass Ultimate would set you back $781.10. The same holds true with the Xbox One S. You could pay $912 over 24 months, whereas you'd normally pay $1,031.80 for an Xbox One X and two years of Game Ultimate Pass. Of course, this excludes sales and assumes you want to stay subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate for the whole two years.
A new Xbox - codenamed Project Scarlet - is due to launch at the end of 2020, but Telstra is also prepared for this. In addition to letting customers pay out the rest of their Xbox subscription, Telstra say other upgrade paths will be available for customers. Telstra has yet to elaborate on what these might be.
In addition, Telstra plans to launch a gamer-focused internet plan in the first part of next year. While the telco has yet to elaborate on specifics, it says the service will prioritise gaming traffic and provide lower latency.
Alex Choros
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