At last, Xbox Game Pass will see its much-needed price hike.
What you should be aware of
- Xbox Game Pass is a subscription service that offers a vast selection of games and exclusive titles from Microsoft’s in-house studios. It has hundreds of games, including ABK blockbusters such as the next Call of Duty.
- Microsoft is now raising the price of all of its current tiers, including Xbox, Ultimate, and PC, in line with Netflix, Spotify, and other services.
- Furthermore, Xbox Game Pass for Console will not be available for new customers to sign up for. An all-new “Standard” tier is on the way, which will have Xbox Live Gold for online gameplay in addition to hundreds of games in the back catalog—akin to EA Access—instead of day-one titles.
Death, taxes, and price rises are the three things in life that are guaranteed. The long-awaited Xbox Game Pass price rise is finally here, Microsoft revealed to us today. However, there are also significant adjustments to the entry-level Xbox console tier.
One of Microsoft’s most notable recent gaming ideas, Xbox Game Pass is an all-you-can-eat gaming subscription service that is similar to Netflix. Players may access hundreds of games, including titles from Microsoft studios, for a monthly charge. This includes upcoming titles like the next Call of Duty, which is scheduled for release in the fall, as well as titles like Bethesda’s Starfield and 343i’s Halo.
A short while ago, Microsoft changed the name of Xbox Live Gold, the barrier for exclusive multiplayer games, to Xbox Game Pass Core. Over time, the company has also made a few minor price hikes. We’re now receiving a bit of a rebranding, along with a significant alteration to the entry-level Xbox Game Pass tier and many price hikes.
- Xbox Game Pass for Console will soon close to new users only.
- Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be able to keep their membership, as well as the hundreds of games from the back catalog and the games released on launch day.
- In the near future, a new Xbox Game Pass “Standard” will greet new subscribers. This is more akin to EA Access, which excludes day one games and has access to Xbox’s back library. This will cost $14.99 a month and come with Xbox Live Gold for online gaming (which, confusingly, is now called Game Pass Core). Playing games on Xbox Cloud is not included. September is apparently when Game Pass Standard launches.
- Microsoft will only let customers stack Xbox Game Pass for Console users for up to 13 months starting on September 12, 2024, utilizing prepaid cards and similar methods. You won’t be affected if you already have more than 13 months piled.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will continue to be available, albeit at a higher cost. Cloud gaming, day one games, hundreds of back catalogue titles, and PC Game Pass will all still be available. However, the cost is going up. $19.99 a month will be the new cost. It’s a wonderful opportunity to save right now at CDKeys since you can stack 3-month pre-paid cards with a 33% discount off the current pre-increase cost.
- The monthly cost of PC Game Pass will also rise, from $9.99 to $11.99.
- Day One games will still be added to PC Game Pass.
- Xbox Game Pass Core (Xbox Live Gold multiplayer) will continue to be available for $9.99 per month, but will rise in price annually to $74.99 from $59.99.
Microsoft claims that the great majority of customers are already on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the service’s premium package. All Xbox console games, PC games, and cloud games are included with Game Pass Ultimate, frequently with cross-progression and cross-save features.
Microsoft is the latest in a long line of streaming providers that have raised their rates recently, including Spotify, Netflix, and others. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate more than covers its costs for gamers, but for non-gamers, Xbox Game Pass may increasingly seem like a subscription service that should be dropped from monthly bills in order to save money.
Cost hikes are coming, as Microsoft acknowledges that first-party games should be the norm.
With hundreds of titles and thousands of dollars in annual discounts, Xbox Game Pass has proven to be an incredible service for users—that is, provided you use it regularly. Personally, I do make frequent and regular use of it, especially for Xbox Cloud Gaming. In fact, you’ll soon be able to play titles you really own outside of Xbox Game Pass thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which will increase Ultimate’s worth.
With hundreds of titles and thousands of dollars in annual discounts, Xbox Game Pass has proven to be an incredible service for users—that is, provided you use it regularly. Personally, I do make frequent and regular use of it, especially for Xbox Cloud Gaming. In fact, you’ll soon be able to play titles you really own outside of Xbox Game Pass thanks to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which will increase Ultimate’s worth.
However, I’ve been informed that the great majority of customers are currently using Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. As we approach the Christmas season, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will still get Xbox titles from day one, including Call of Duty 2024. Microsoft’s decision to grandfather in current Xbox Game Pass for Console subscribers and let them maintain their entitlements is also a commendable move. However, if more and more people go to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, I can see it finally being phased away.
Actually, since many games are now free to play and don’t require a paywall subscription, there are probably some users who just don’t see the value in paying for “Xbox Live Gold” multiplayer; for these users, Xbox Game Pass for Console might be a better overall option than Ultimate is, but I suspect that’s a small audience at this point.
While competing with platforms like Steam on PC and PlayStation on console, Xbox Game Pass as a subscription service is arguably confined to a subset of devices in a subset of scenarios, unlike Netflix and Spotify, which have access to an almost endless number of devices to develop on. Google and Apple make every effort to prevent Xbox Cloud Gaming from becoming a reality, and Microsoft has had difficulty transitioning Xbox One users to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S as quickly as it would have wanted. It will be intriguing to observe how the service develops going forward.
