What you need to know
- Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s all-you-can-eat gaming subscription service, incorporating hundreds of games and day-one titles from Microsoft’s internal studios, including ABK titles like the next Call of Duty.
- Similarly to Netflix, Spotify, and other services, Microsoft is now increasing the price across 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” tier is coming soon, which will not include day-one games, but will include the hundreds-strong back catalog similar to EA Access, and Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer.
Three things in life are certain, death, taxes, and price increases. Today, Microsoft confirmed to us that details on the long-expected Xbox Game Pass price increase is well and truly here — but it comes with some major changes to the basic Xbox console tier as well.
Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s Netflix-like all-you-can-eat gaming subscription service, and one of its more noteworthy recent gaming innovations. For a monthly fee, players get access to hundreds of games, as well as day-one titles from Microsoft studios. That includes games like Starfield from Bethesda, Halo from 343i, but also future games like the next Call of Duty, set to launch in the Fall.
Microsoft rebranded Xbox Live Gold (the paywall for premium multiplayer titles) to Xbox Game Pass Core a short while ago, and has done some small price increases over the years. Now, we’re getting another name change of sorts, as well as a major change to the basic Xbox Game Pass tier, as well as a range of price increases.
Here’s what you need to know:
- Soon, Xbox Game Pass for Console will be shuttered for new users only.
- Users currently on Xbox Game Pass for Console will be allowed to maintain their subscription, as well as day one games, and the hundreds of titles in the back catalogue.
- New users on Xbox Game Pass in the near future will be greeted by a new Xbox Game Pass “Standard.” This is more like EA Access, which includes Xbox’s back catalogue, and doesn’t include day one games. This will be priced at $14.99 per month, and will also include Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer (now known as Game Pass Core, confusingly). It doesn’t include Xbox Cloud gaming. Game Pass Standard is supposedly launching in September.
- From September 12, 2024, Microsoft will only allow users to stack Xbox Game Pass for Console users for up to 13 months, using pre-paid cards and the like, which will continue to function. If you have more than 13 months stacked already, you won’t be impacted.
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will not be changed, but it will get a price increase. It will still include PC Game Pass, day one games, and hundreds of back catalogue titles, as well as cloud gaming. But, it is getting a price increase. The new price will be $19.99 per month.
- PC Game Pass is also getting a price increase, from $9.99 per month to $11.99.
- PC Game Pass will also continue to get day one games.
- Xbox Game Pass Core (Xbox Live Gold multiplayer) gets an annual price increase to $74.99 from $59.99, but it will remain $9.99 per month.
- The price increases are global. You can view the new prices for your region here.
- For users with recurring billing, the new prices will take effect on September 12, 2024, giving you time to cancel if you don’t fancy it.
- UPDATE: Microsoft now has a support page up dedicated to these changes over 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 incorporates all games on Xbox consoles, as well as in the cloud, and on PC too, often with cross-save and cross-progression.
Microsoft joins a long list of subscription services like Netflix, Spotify, and others increasing their prices over recent years. For users who play tons of games, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate more than pays for itself, but for those who don’t, Xbox Game Pass increasingly might look like a subscription service worth cutting from their monthly bills to save cash.
Price increases are here, as Microsoft concedes day one games as standard
Xbox Game Pass has been an amazing service for users, with hundreds of games and thousands of dollars per year in annual savings, if indeed you use the service frequently. I personally do use it frequently and consistently, particularly for Xbox Cloud Gaming. Indeed, Xbox Cloud Gaming is also slated to allow you to play games you actually own outside of Xbox Game Pass fairly soon too, which will boost the value of Ultimate.
Still, the fact that “day one games” are no longer standard seems like a major concession for Microsoft. Since the service’s inception, people have wondered whether or not giving everyone access to games day one was a sustainable model, and post-pandemic, perhaps it simply isn’t at that previous price tier. The vast majority of users are on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate right now I’m told, though. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will continue to get Xbox titles day one, including Call of Duty 2024 heading into this holiday season. It’s also a positive step that Microsoft grandfathered in existing Xbox Game Pass for Console users into the system, allowing them to keep their entitlements. I can see it eventually being phased out, though, as more and more users move to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Truth be told, there are undoubtedly some users who simply 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 to 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 console. Apple and Google do everything they can to block Xbox Cloud Gaming from becoming a thing, and Microsoft has struggled to move Xbox One owners to Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S as rapidly as I’m sure it would’ve liked. It’ll be interesting to watch how the service evolves from here.
Laura Adams is a tech enthusiast residing in the UK. Her articles cover the latest technological innovations, from AI to consumer gadgets, providing readers with a glimpse into the future of technology.
