PC Game Pass Adds ‘How Long to Beat’ Interface

Microsoft announced in a new slew of September updates for its apps and platforms a fun new feature for PC Game Pass subscribers. If you’re like me and subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate, one of the great problems to have is the number of games you have at your fingertips. I’d be lying if I said how long a game takes to beat doesn’t play into my decision sometimes. Well, now we can see that right on the game details pages thanks to a collaboration with HowLongToBeat.com.

Xbox announced via its Xbox Wire blog the new update and integration of the HowLongToBeat game length data in four distinct categories:

Main Story (Required): You complete the main objectives, just enough to see the credits roll.
Main Story and Additional Quests/Medals/Unlockables: You take your time, discover and complete additional tasks not required.
Completionist (100%): You strive for every achievement, every medal and conquer all that the game has to offer.
Combined: All play styles considered during estimation.

The added link to further information on HowLongToBeat will also open up additional abilities. You can submit your own times, manage your library of games, and help others decide on their next game to play. HowLongToBeat also includes community reviews, playthrough notes, and data breakdowns by platform and playstyle that other users submit.

The integration is great and I can see myself using it quite a bit. For example, I saw that My Friend Pepa Pig takes about 90 minutes to beat but yields a ton of Gamerscore points. That might be worth my time, and without the game duration data, I would have never considered downloading the game. Let us know if you use this new feature in the future!