For years now, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has set itself apart by offering subscribers launch-day access to new first-party titles in addition to a large legacy library of older games. That important “day one” perk is now set to go away for all but the highest tier of Game Pass’ console subscribers, even as Microsoft asks for more money for Game Pass across the board.
Let’s start with the price increases for existing Game Pass tiers, which are relatively straightforward:
- “Game Pass Ultimate” is going from $16.99 to $19.99 per month.
- “Game Pass for PC” is going from $9.99 to $11.99 per month.
- “Game Pass Core” (previously known as Xbox Live Gold) is going from $59.99 to $74.99 for annual subscriptions (and remains at $9.99 for monthly subscriptions).
Things get a bit more complicated for the $10.99/month “Xbox Game Pass for Console” tier. Microsoft announced that it will no longer accept new subscriptions for that tier after today, though current subscribers will be able to keep it (for now) if they auto-renew their subscriptions.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. MS has been offering game pass at a good value for a while now to entice users and grow their platform. Now it’s time to start squeezing value. Standard enshitification cycle stuff here, and a good reason not to play their game.
The pass for pc version is pretty bad, the catalog is mediocre, the interface is awful, and downloads are insanely slow (especially compared to steam).
Yeah, the Xbox app sucks, it’s slow and get stuck all the time. They have been at this for 3x years now, developing Windows native app, why in the hell can’t their 1st party app just not be semi broken on their own platform.
I paid for it for a while some time ago, but stopped because I don’t play many recent games anymore. I can wait for the games to be very cheap and buy them on Steam or GOG, and also play more indie games than ever, and I also have retro gaming.
It was obvious from the start that they would start rising prices as soon as they got to a critical number of subscribers, it was too good to be true for a long time. I think the regular subscription was something like 5€ a month when I used it, now the price has doubled and it’s going to keep rising without a doubt.
I need to figure out what games I still have on my Xbox from Game Pass, buy the ones I really like or wishlist them for a sale, and cancel it. I haven’t even played online with my friends in a couple years, so I don’t really even need the Core plan for now.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
In its place, Microsoft will “in the coming months” roll out a new $14.99 “Xbox Game Pass Standard” tier.
Quick and dirty chart by me to display the new Xbox Game Pass structure (subject to correction).
But it’s the launch day access to Microsoft’s system-selling first-party titles that really sets the Ultimate tier apart now, and which will likely necessitate a costly upgrade for many Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
Since then, loyal Game Pass subscribers have been able to play dozens of brand-new first-party titles at launch, from major franchises like Halo, Forza, and Gears of War to indie darlings like Hi-Fi Rush, Sea of Thieves, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps and much more.
Including first-party titles with cheaper, console-focused Game Pass subscriptions probably seemed like a good idea when Microsoft was still trying to attract subscribers to the service.
“Let’s put it this way: If 7 million Xbox Game Pass subscribers were planning to buy ‘Call of Duty’ for $70 but now have no reason to (as it’s part of their subscription), that leaves almost half a billion dollars of revenue on the table,” MIDia analyst Rhys Elliott told The Daily Upside by way of illustrating the significant numbers involved.
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