It was discovered that Google launched its Play Pass subscription service to additional countries on Monday, 21 August 2023. Even though Malaysia is not listed in the list of supported countries, users have already spotted the service in our region’s Play Store with a subscription price of RM10.99 per month or RM99 per year.
Thanks to X user juzmafia‘s tip earlier this week, it was initially thought that the company had decided to introduce the service in Malaysia without making a major announcement. However, this wasn’t entirely the case as several users have reported that they were unable to find Play Pass on the Google Play Store, meaning that distribution was done to a limited amount for testing purposes, or the rollout was intended to be gradual.
In a response to our query, Google Malaysia today has confirmed that Play Pass was actually officially launched in Malaysia a day after (22 August), while distribution was indeed done in stages starting on Monday. A representative added that the rollout process has been completed and it should be available to all users in the country. Despite this, the company has yet to include Malaysia in the service’s list of supported countries.
For the uninitiated, Play Pass is basically Google’s answer to Apple Arcade. Initially launched in certain regions back in 2019, it is a subscription service that offers users access to a large library of ad-free mobile games, including premium (non free-to-play) games such as Stardew Valley or Terraria which costs RM20.99 on Play Store. Additionally, you also choose to share the subscription with up to five other individuals via the pass’ family-sharing feature.
To subscribe to the service, open up Google Play Store and then tap on your profile picture. From there, select Play Pass from the pop-up menu, and then either select Get Started to go with the monthly subscription or the link below it for the annual option.
