What you need to know
- Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s all-you-can-eat game subscription service, including hundreds of games and day-one titles from Microsoft’s in-house studios, including ABK titles like the other Call of Duty.
- Similar to Netflix, Spotify and other services, Microsoft is now raising the price on all of its existing tiers, including console, Ultimate and PC.
- Additionally, new users will not be able to sign up for Xbox Game Pass for Console. A new “Standard” level is coming soon, which will happen NO include the first day’s games, but WILL include the hundreds-strong back catalog similar to EA Access, and Xbox Live Gold multiplayer.
Three things in life are certain, death, taxes and rising prices. Today, Microsoft confirmed to us that the details on the long-awaited Xbox Game Pass price hike are well and truly here – but it comes with some big changes to the base level of the Xbox console too.
Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s Netflix-like gaming subscription service and one of its most significant recent gaming innovations. For a monthly fee, players have access to hundreds of games as well as day one titles from Microsoft studios. This includes games like Starfield from Bethesda, Halo from 343i, but also upcoming games like the upcoming Call of Duty, which will launch in the fall.
Microsoft renamed Xbox Live Gold (the paywall for premium multiplayer titles) to Xbox Game Pass Core a while ago, and has made a few small price increases over the years. Now, we’re getting another name change of sorts, as well as a big change to the base level of Xbox Game Pass, as well as a bunch of price hikes.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Soon, Xbox Game Pass for Console will be closed for new users only.
- Users currently on Xbox Game Pass for Console will be allowed to keep their subscriptionas well as day one matches, and hundreds of titles in the back catalogue.
- New Xbox Game Pass users will be greeted by a new Xbox Game Pass Standard in the near future. This is more like EA Access, which includes the Xbox back catalog and does not include day one games. This will cost $14.99 per month and will also include Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer (now known as Game Pass Core, confusingly). It does not include Xbox Cloud games. Game Pass Standard is supposed to launch in September.
- From September 12, 2024, Microsoft will allow users to accumulate Xbox Game Pass for console-only users for up to 13 months, using prepaid cards and similar, which will continue to work. If you have more than 13 months accumulated already, you will not be affected.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will not be changed, but there will be a price increase. It will still include PC Game Pass, day one games and hundreds of back catalog titles, as well as cloud gaming. But, it is getting a price hike. The new price will be $19.99 per month.
- PC Game Pass is also getting a price hikefrom $9.99 per month to $11.99.
- PC Game Pass will also continue to receive day one games.
- Xbox Game Pass Core (Xbox Live Gold multiplayer) gets an annual price increase to $74.99 from $59.99, but will remain $9.99 per month.
- of price increases are global. You can see the new prices for your region here.
- For recurring billing users, The new prices will take effect on September 12, 2024. giving you time to cancel if you don’t like it.
- UPDATE: Microsoft now has a support page dedicated to these changes here.
According to Microsoft, the vast majority of users today are already on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is their flagship plan for the service. Game Pass Ultimate includes all games on Xbox consoles, as well as in the cloud, and on PC as well, often with cross-save and cross-progress.
Microsoft joins a long list of subscription services like Netflix, Spotify and others that have raised their prices in recent years. For users who play thousands of games, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate more than pays for itself, but for those who don’t, Xbox Game Pass may increasingly look like a subscription service worth cutting out of their monthly bills to save money.
The price hikes are here, as Microsoft accepts day one games as standard
Xbox Game Pass has been an amazing service for users, with hundreds of games and thousands of dollars a year in annual savings if you really use the service often. Me personally I DO use often and continuously, especially for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Indeed, Xbox Cloud Gaming is also slated to let you play games you actually own outside of Xbox Game Pass very soon, which will increase the value of Ultimate.
However, the fact that “day one games” are no longer standard seems like a huge letdown for Microsoft. Since the service’s inception, people have wondered whether giving everyone access to games on day one was a sustainable model, and post-pandemic, maybe it’s just not at the level of previous pricing. However, the vast majority of users are on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for now. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will continue to receive Xbox titles on day one, including Call of Duty 2024 this holiday season. It’s also a positive step that Microsoft has brought the existing Xbox Game Pass into the system for Console users, allowing them to keep their rights. I can see it eventually being phased out as more and more users switch to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Truth be told, there are definitely some users who just don’t see the point in paying for Xbox Live Gold multiplayer, given that many titles are now free to play and don’t require any form of paywall subscription. Play. For them, something like Xbox Game Pass for Console might be a better option overall than Ultimate is. But I suspect it’s probably a small audience at this point.
Unlike Netflix and Spotify which have access to an almost infinite number of devices to grow on, Xbox Game Pass as a subscription service is arguably limited to a subset of devices in a subset of scenarios, while simultaneously competing with platforms like Steam on PC, and PlayStation on consoles. Apple and Google are doing everything they can to block Xbox Cloud Gaming from becoming a thing, and Microsoft has struggled to move Xbox One owners to the Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S as quickly as I’m sure it would like. It will be interesting to see how the service evolves from here.