The Mixer studio on Microsoft’s headquarters campus. (GeekWire Photo / Nat Levy)

Microsoft is leveraging its Twitch competitor Mixer to drive more subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass.

Starting today, Mixer Partners, the people who stream games for audiences, will get $3 for every person they get to sign up for Xbox Game Pass, or upgrade to Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft wrote in a blog post that it built this tie-in between the two services because streamers play an important role in helping people discover new games.

Game Pass is part of Microsoft’s push toward a gaming future that relies less on discs. The subscription service features a rotating catalog of more than 100 games that users can download to their hard drive.

Microsoft recently bundled Game Pass, which costs $9.99 per month on its own, with Xbox Live as part of the new Game Pass Ultimate offering. That service costs $14.99 per month, $5 less than the two services individually.

Mixer made waves in the streaming world earlier this month when it recruited esports star Ninja away from rival Twitch. It took just a few days for Ninja to reach more than 1 million subscribers on Mixer.

In the blog post, Microsoft teased further integrations between Mixer and Xbox Game Pass.

“It is just the first step,” Mixer Product Marketing Manager Ben Favreau wrote. “Keep an eye out for future Mixer and Xbox Game Pass news — we may have something else in the works. Stay tuned.”

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