Education
Google Play Pass extends outside of the US and offers an annual fee.
Google Play Pass, the Google subscription program that gives you access to hundreds of Android games and devices with no advertisements or in-app purchases, is rolling out to nine new countries this week, the company revealed today. The service has only been available in the US since its launch in September, but it will soon be available to Android users in Australia, Canada, France , Germany, Ireland , Italy, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Google is also introducing a new annual Play Pass subscription option that gives you a great discount if you want to pay 12 months in advance. Play Pass normally costs $4.99 a month, but the latest annual subscription would cost $29.99 a month.
The price also undercuts Apple Arcade, an Apple app subscription program that only features games and costs $49.99 a year. (Though Apple Arcade is also available for $4.99 a month.) You will see a new annual Play Pass subscription next week, and it will be available in all markets where Play Pass is available, Google says.
The company also says it has added "over 150 new games" to the Play Pass in the last few months, including Sonic the Hedgehog, and there are now more than 500 games on the list, Google says to The Verge. A series of new games is expected to be released at Play Pass later this year, which will help it compete better with Apple Arcade and its exclusives.
