Xbox Game Pass Is Getting A Major Overhaul With New Names, Games & Price Changes

Not sure I like the look of this

Sorry but that price rise is disgusting in one go. £22.99 now. With no yearly discount purchases etc.

And right after they put up console prices and a 1k handheld?

What is going on at Xbox?

To think it used to be the cheapest place to game. That’s gone now.

Obviously people will come and defend it.

As Ultimate is the only tier with day 1 games, there is absolutely no value in this for me anymore. I couldn't care less about nonsense like Fortnite, so without a tier that is reasonably priced for day 1 games, mine will never be renewed after next month

RIP Game Pass

While I already stopped renewing monthly I still got gamepass bi monthly.
They have now lost me as a customer entirely. Was good while it lasted.

I guess Core is getting PC games at least.

$30 per month? That's insane.
Might as well buy the games at this rate or even better, wait some time and buy them for $30 or less.

Ouch! I added 3 months of GPU last week for 36k points. Im now priced out of GPU at $30/month. I have plenty to play, but still hurts.

It’s just nuts that now it’s better value to pay $60/$70 for a game at launch and be able to play it forever…

My uncle who builds boats said he give Phil Spencer a good deal on rudders.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner usually I would try to think of a way to justify minor price increases as Xbox has been ridiculously cheap for me this gen, but this one feels like a step to far.

So am I wrong or is this the third price hike in 14 months? We've jumped from $14.99 to $29.99 for Ultimate in a very short amount of time.

Absolutely ridiculous.

That whole “gamepass is such a great value!” argument is getting less and less plausible, isn’t it?

@Coletrain I agree £2 rise now and then you can stomach it.

But it’s a 50% rise.

And if you want CoD or any day 1 you have to have the highest tier.

Was fun while it lasted... Not even Ubisoft + but "classics" smh...

I'll stick with Core.
I made the jump from Ultimate to that tier back in July and haven't regretted it since.

The only reason I even need the service is for online multiplayer and I already buy any game I want to play so it's a perfect tier for me.

"Boy, that escalated quickly... I mean, that really got out of hand fast."

Lol, this must be a missed places April's fool. Are we gamers made of money?
I'm still out of the Xbox online life. No way, I'd pay for that ! 😞

It was fairly obvious this was coming when various reports where out there questioning how profitable GP was given that they remove most of the costs from the equation.

Sadly they are really circling the drain at the moment for everything except being a publisher, but I think thats ultimately all they really want to be.

Sure feels like Xbox is trying everything they possibly can to get out of the console business aren't they?...

Yikes, lost all its value for me at this point. Was great while it lasted but think I'll just be PS/Switch from here on out.

1) Do we know the pricing in UK and Europe?
2) Any news about making cloud available in more countries because it still isn't available even in many EU countries and we keep paying the same price without it.
3) Unless you can get those 100$ just by casually playing the games you wana play the price is ridiculous... Well it is either way but it will be better if I know i have 100$ to buy my games.

As someone that used gamepass pc (£9.99pm) quite regularly for day one titles, the roughly 130% jump to £22.99pm means I won’t be using the service anywhere near as often as I have been.

Happier to pick up a lot of these titles on sale for when they get close to the sub price and have had their inevitable quality of life and performance/bug patches.

Will be interesting to see what this does to subscriber numbers. They’re definitely going to dip, but I wonder if profits will be offset by the significant price increases.

Don't think I can justify paying that price anymore, don't play enough games on game pass for the value, and those other benefits don't exactly benefit everyone, most people either have or have played a lot of the old Ubisoft games and unless you play Fortnite all the time, there's no point there either

Well, they just killed it for me. I’m done at this price. I’ll just sub maybe once a year for a month to maximize the value

Let me see if I understand this, it's confusing.

Basically, Ultimate gets Ubisoft+ Classic in exchange for costing $10 more?

The PC tier is missing! Still fairly ok in price and get you all new titles on day one. No streaming or Ubi Classis+!

Well stuff that. That's me done with Gamepass after this month.

@Neither_scene There is still the PC version with same benefits as before!

@FraserG Still a great deal actually!

For 30 bucks I needed to see Baldurs Gate 3, Dragons Dogma 2, AC Shadows, CP2077 etc. being added. Short sighted self sabotage if I’ve ever seen it😪

EA Play now converts at 6->1 Ratio. Was this just a new thing from today or something that was updated previously?

If you can't find an option that works for you maybe share the sub with a friend. I'm not too bothered. My subscription to ultimate expires this december I'll just buy a year of GPU and enjoy the rest of my life. Money needs to be spend and remember gaming is still just a hobby.

My Game Pass Ultimate sub expires in a couple of weeks and no way I am paying that price, rather just wait for sales on games I want to play

I'll see what the UK price for 3 month Ultimate is on loaded.com as I never pay direct for it, so usually it's a 30(ish)% discount on full price.
If it looks unreasonable once Loaded put their prices up, which they'll have to, I may tune out entirely.
I have until 9th January to decide, by then I'll have had 3 months of what the 'new' Ultimate has to offer, though on first look, I don't feel confident.

No real loss as a gaming PC and FitGirl has become my go to for gaming.

@ilyn everyone with half a brain knew they removed all the costs. It was only those who defend every decision MS make that believe otherwise.

That is quite a big Jump up for Ultimate - the tier I sub to - for just Ubisoft+ and the opportunity to earn more Reward points.

I'll see how it goes, but it may well be worth dropping down a tier - maybe the additional Points will help offset some of the Extra cost - but I don't know that I'll keep at Ultimate and may well just upgrade from Premium for a month or two when some games are releasing and drop down again after playing.

I'll see if it makes more sense to buy games 'with Play Anywhere' or keep Subscribing to Ultimate. I know I'd still need Game Pass Essential to play the games I want on Console - so I'll factor in the 'cost' of a year of Ultimate vs a the Cost of the Games I'll likely want to play/buy and a year of Essential too and decide which is the 'better' value to me...

@Sveakungen ah ok, that’s actually still a pretty decent deal. Read eurogamer and chat gpt to try and understand the pricing structure which was not clear at all. Both suggested pc gamepass was being discontinued and rolled into the new ultimate tier.

Did they drop EA Access?
Edit: I see that it's still included in the Ultimate tier.

I have just stacked 6 months for £11 each over at Loaded (CdKeys). I am good now until Nov next year

Just thinking.

Not only is it a huge jump. They will still try and fleece more money by selling it 5 day early access.

If it’s going to $30 I think that first party games should then include any DLC

So basically another £100 a year. No thanks I'm out.

@kantaroo nope - not for Ultimate tier where it hasalways been - they've just added Ubisoft+ (and Fortnite Crew? coming soon) - as well as changed Reward points

@BAMozzy thanks, I see it now in the screenshot.

Oh! 😖 that stings a little to be honest. It's not just Ultimate going up, it's the cost of living in general lately too. My Ultimate ends in November, so I might have to rethink all my subscriptions overall.

@FraserG do we know the price in €?

No wonder they nuked the ability to convert Microsoft Rewards to Gamepass subs. Yikes!

Xbox is effectively done as a brand, and at this rate, Gamepass will follow in irrelevance.

Standard/Premium will be the best deal it looks like, still get first party games but 1 year later, not a huge deal considering most games take 6 months to get into working order. But no CoD if you care about that, I don't. I don't really care about Fortnite Crew, or Ubi Classics either, would rather not pay extra for those. They mention flexibility, but that seems less flexible to me.

We'll see what the service and the console looks like when my GPU expires in 3 years. Not really too worried about this right now

Damn....I'm guessing my stacked ultimate subscription won't be changed as a result of the price increase? It's a massive jump at a time when folks are tight on cash, I'd expect that there will be a dip in subscriptions as a result.

I'm hoping i can use that fortnite crew thing for my son's account as I don't care at all about fortnite.

In my country, Ultimate just double its price. What the heck.

The $10 increase for Game Pass Ultimate is really brutal. And this change is in total contradiction with Xbox’s own statement: “We know not everyone wants the same thing in their Xbox experience.”

So why add Ubisoft games to Game Pass Ultimate or offer higher‑quality cloud streaming in exchange for $10 more? What about those who just want a large game library without necessarily caring about cloud gaming or ubisoft games? Or who would be fine with just a basic cloud option? Why make players pay for features that many of them won’t even use in the end?

They should have added another subscription tier in that case, something like an “Ultimate+” , and kept the current Game Pass Ultimate as it is, at the same price. Luckily, I took advantage of some tricks to get Game Pass Ultimate at a lower cost until 2027, but after that runs out, I’ll seriously consider downgrading my subscription. At this point, the price has reached a threshold that’s becoming very difficult for many players who are already juggling multiple subscriptions.

I’m usually the first to defend Xbox when I see unfair criticism, but here, I just don’t understand what they’re doing. It makes no sense and it’s in total contradiction with what they claim. Phil, what are you doing?

I’m a GP fanboy, not an Xbox fanboy, but very specifically a GP fanboy. Even then, I think this might lead to me cancelling my subscription when my current two year stack runs out.

Ooft! If I didn't know much much better I'd say Microsoft were skint. Jeezo

I'm still waiting for some details on an Xbox GP Family option. Even if it's pricey, it'd be nice to have. We have 4 Xbox consoles and juggling that gets annoying.

Don't get me wrong, it's insane there's another price rise, and I do think the per-month price may now be unacceptably high considering there is no equivalent to PC gamespass.

But at least this time, there's an actual increase in content for ultimate subscribers, granted it's a bunch of old Ubisoft games, but at least it's something unlike the previous times where it was "erm costs? pay us more?"

Well, I have my GamePass Ultimate stacked for a while. Committing to 75+ day one games a year is pretty ballsy. I’ll enjoy it until my sub runs out and then evaluate when the time comes.

I think they should have left things like Ubisoft Classics and Fortnite Crew off the table to minimize the increase. I don’t have much interest in either of those.

@fatpunkslim with Ubisoft+ it's probably easier to sell the increase. They don't want an additional tier, they want additional revenue from the increase.

@Jake_homs I've given up hope on that one. There's a reason they haven't done it until now.

@fatpunkslim I would be very surprised if Phil's had much input on this happening or not, I wouldn't be surprised if he's the reason Ubi is being included, "you have to give them something"

So anyone that just plays cod on pc via gamepass will end up paying the cost for it in the space of a few months. There will be some out there that don't buy it and end up paying more for it via the subscription which will be what, £264 for the year?

I've had Ultimate for a couple years and it's been great but as someone who prefers physical media I don't think $30 is worth it. I don't care about Fortnite and I've played every Ubisoft game I cared about

So basically if you don't finish one of those day-one Game Pass games in a single month, you wasted your money and you may as well have bought the game at full price

Ultimate doubled the price in Brazil. Think I'm done with xbox now.

This is a joke honestly I won't be keeping the ultimate subscription for this price no chance at all!

Long live the days of blockbuster when getting the games on disc was like three for £20 and they lasted and appreciated that also didn't waste your time with bloat that you know, keeps you subscribed for longer.

Nope. This is what, the 4th increase in a year?

It's not worth it now. Will be getting whatever the lowest base sub is just for online. The Xbox live equivalent. ***** this *****.

I may have to drop ultimate. A $10 a month jump is epic hubris and I don’t get to play games as much as I used to.

Phil Spencer is a failure in my mind. He’s abandoned the ecosystem and nuked the value of GP.

I have been a subscriber since the beginning of GP, I’ve always found value in it even during the early years when it was a lot of smaller indie games for the most part. It didn’t cost much and it was introducing me to new games I wouldn’t have tried otherwise. Now they are jacking the price too high and adding a bunch of old Ubisoft games that sell for $5 on sales to justify it? And Fortnite sub of some kind? Yea back down to the lowest tier for me so I can online game what a joke.

Im losing count of the amount of gamepass price increases we have had since they promised they wouldn’t raise it during the FTC trial

@awp69 yeah that 75+... I play a LOT of GP and I'm probably finishing 30-35 games a year. Considering about half are not my taste, maybe that 75+ seems about right though.

Evaluating in a few years when my sub expires is where I'm at too. The future is never certain, and certainly not pertaining to xbox. I really have no idea what to expect, but it's been a good 8-10 years with Rewards and GPU.

@abe_hikura Why do they pretend they’re offering more choice? It’s not true! We still have the same three plans as before, there’s no extra choice — just a price hike and some added features that won’t necessarily interest everyone. I really don’t get it, it feels like just an excuse to raise the price. I can understand that higher‑quality cloud streaming costs them more, but they shouldn’t push that onto everyone, only on those who actually want better cloud quality.

I figured they'd beat around the bush and do $22 a month, then $24, $26 ECT

Instead, they jumped straight to $30. I'm not paying that. That's insanity.

This explains them doubling the points you get in some areas...they knew this one was going to sting

Does it suck? Yeah, it does. I usually just buy a month here and there, there's no rewards in my region.

For me it's still a really good deal (worse than before, of course). But if I can manage to beat two new games in a month that's like $110 I'm saving.

I had a good four year ride with free GPU through rewards. They have no nerfed that into oblivion and made it impossible to pay for GPU with them. With them putting games on PS I think this could be the end for me. RIP Xbox, you were a good friend.

The price of Ultimate was too good (fine by me) for a subscription that includes on day one all first-party games by the publisher with the greatest number of studios plus some excellent third-party titles. If this was the only tier, it would be disappointing, but with two cheaper options, well, you have two other options or just buy the games you want. Anyway, you can get a much better deal converting Standard to Ultimate, unless they just changed the conversion ratios, which wouldn't be surprising, but still a better deal than a recurrent Ultimate monthly subscription.

Subscribed when I bought my XSX many many years ago, absolutely loved it, and kept the sub alive while I played on other things, just to support the wonderful package Xbox and GP was.

I'm cancelling today. This is just not a good deal anymore for me, it's actually a really terrible one to be honest.

Rewards not being available in my country is still a joke.
And by the way, Hogwarts Legacy is 12 euros on steam, 15 if you get it on a sale on Xbox. Not a huge selling point. Older ubisoft games, and fortnite, no thank you. And the other GP games I want to play? I'm old enough to wait for a sale on other platforms.

Guess I'm going back to play on my PS5/NS2/PC. And I never thought I'd say this, but I guess I won't need to buy the next generation Xbox if there will be any.

Thanks for the memories Phil, It's been fun.

@Banjo- the ratio has indeed changed.

Well there's proof that the critics were right: Gamepass was unsustainable. Now it's quickly veering from "the best deal in gaming" to a niche service.

I suspect $30/month is going to be too much for most, and stepping down a tier and losing benefits like day-1 games is going to be bitter for many. No one likes having features taken away.

I think MS has overestimated Gamepass. Services like Netflix or Disney+ get away with it because they have exclusive content.

Gamepass does not.

At this point, unless you're a (very small) minority that also wanted Ubisoft+ and plays Fortnite religiously, the better decision is to hold off for steep sales and/or just pick up the games you want.

I'm sure somebody did the math and decided these prices would be competitive.. but man, last year I've used discounted PS Plus and bought games I really wanted outside of the service.. and have not spent total of 360 USD. That is wild!

Almost $40 CAD a month taxes in? Blow it out your rear end M$...

ouch. I just bought a month to take advantage of the age of mythology sale and to try a few games on my testing list. But I guess after this I’m out again. 30 bucks is my “buy it on sale” price for big games, so no longer a value to keep gamepass. Especially since I don’t play enough to let the sub ride. Kinda glad I went cold turkey when I got AC Shadows. If I didn’t buy games or only had an xbox this would still be a good deal so that may be their angle but this won’t work for me.

Gaming (to me) has felt like it has been pruning itself a bit so I have been able to drop more things or scale back. Been putting the money saved to other things or savings.

So are they going full 3rd party publisher and they are just pricing everything so high that people stop buying the hardware and subscription to a point that they can say it's not sustainable and they aren't going to be doing that anymore?

What's the point in buying something from them if you don't know that they will be around...or if they are just a PC storefront eventually are they better than the competition?

Series X was my first Xbox and i was super excited when i started....will it be a one and done?

So the changes come into effect as of today then?

@fatpunkslim I completely agree, but Microsoft must have stricken a cheap deal for the Ubisoft Classics (not the top tier) and Fortnite subscription, so the increase is not to pay for that. I think that they wouldn't use all the extra money for the new deals because they wouldn't earn extra cash and would potentially lose Ultimate subscribers. The extras are merely an excuse to make the ultimate subscription more expensive. Of course, it would be better to have Ultimate and Ultimate Plus!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner

Ive been a staunch supporter of gamepass and xblive before that since day 1. Ive always said it had great value associated with it.

Last month, when i let my sub lapse for the first time ever it was more because of my use of it as opposed to the value prop, as at $23 it was still a solid investment.

Now though, at $30 a month, or $360 a year I just dont see the value prop unless you have an immense amount of free time.

So I really dont think well see many defending this unless they are in that extremely small subset of high income and high free time.

Called it. Absolutely called it. Buying out Activision was going to be this company's end. Screw Xbox, I hope they go under.

I might be in the EXTREME minority of players that this change actually benefits since I've been a Fortnite Crew subscriber for years now. I'll save like $2 a month lol.

But for everyone else? Yeah, this is not good. Not good at all.

@Neither_scene Thats what I thought was happening too. That they were eliminating pc tier since all tiers now include pc games too

$30 per month to own nothing lmao. They should switch the letters around for the highest tier and call it GamePass Mutilate

I understand that not everyone can aford this but i'ts still a decent deal i guess, and remember you dont have to subscribe for ultimate tho you do lose a lot of value if you don't...

I was exspacting a price increase but not this much

My sub expires in April 2026. I will not be renewing. £23/month is insane.

I'm sorry, but I'm still kind of fuming about this.

Microsoft raises the price of consoles (with the 2TB Series X the most expensive on the market) but we all thought they were looking to pivot out of hardware-only anyway.

Now they've done another giant price hike on Gamepass and crossed the threshold of the cost/value analysis for many.

Soo...they're pivoting out of being strictly hardware, but driving fans away from their online services too.

All while canceling games and releasing them elsewhere.

How's this setting Xbox up for any future success?

Not to be alarmist, but I wouldn't be surprised to see them sell off some studios and IP at this point.

@Balaam_ 🤣🤣 That's funny...

Ha, absolutely not. Not a snowball's chance in hell. Remember though, buying Activision won't lead to price rises.

We really, absolutely need to support each other and talk sense into the corpo-apologists (e.g. "$30 is still a good deal") and stand together until this nonsense stops happening. Keep meeting their cost-demands, and they'll keep pushing them up, stop doing it, and we'll see them come back to reality.

I've always been recommending Xbox to gamers especially those who have or want Playstation. I will no longer be recommending Xbox to anyone due to console and GamePass price hikes.

Oh hell no! 30 dollars a month! 😆

@cross717 I've stuck with them as I liked their backwards compatibility. Though I noticed that recently I've been using my shiny Series X to play games from 15 - almost 20 - years ago.

But where do we go? Nintendo are doing some dodgy things, Playstation feels like it has a dearth of first party games and have often shown their hand to be anti-consumer.

Maybe the future really is handheld PC's that operate on a TV like the Switch does and ditch the console world. But I really don't want the faff that comes with a PC.

Yikes! I'm in the UK and still able to redeem a month of GPU for 12,000 points (despite it supposedly stopping yesterday), so I have purchased some codes from there, and will use the old EA Play conversion trick as and when I feel there's enough I want to play but, given I prefer casual, simulator, and driving games, there's little value in most new releases added to the service to stay subscribed consistently like I have done in recent years

@JumpingJackson The biggest market besides the infested-with-microtransactions mobile market is PC. As the gaming version of Windows gets improved, I'd say yes, versatile devices like handheld PCs or gaming handhelds with video output have a bright future ahead that will benefit Xbox Play Anywhere and the PC ports of PS5/6... (and Nintendo emulators?) The newer generations don't want walled gardens nor paying much more for much less.

I've been using my monthly reward points for GPU, just converting each month, no way I can afford £22.99 per month after paying nothing for years. I'll have a look at Essential I guess.

Myself & many others in the industry have been saying this for YEARS!!! It's not sustainable at the current levels. They killed software sales on their machines, thinking people would still buy some games, the numbers show they don't buy much of anything that's not on Gamepass. Sony did it the right way, wait 2 years or more & let the bottom feeders have the games after they've recouped their costs.

Will be moving down to Essential tier after my Ultimate expires in early March next year. I don’t use Game Pass enough to justify paying these prices.

Bit bummed that they’re keeping console multiplayer a paid feature. Wonder how they can possibly justify that with the next Xbox PC hybrid thingy that will also have Steam? No one will want to pay to play their Steam library online - PC gamers will revolt. I suppose we’re not there yet, but ominous warning signs here.

@huroma

It really depends. I don't "rush". Coming back to them is something I don't really care about. I have a 1000+ games backlog, so I don't usually replay stuff.
I understand if it's unfun to you, but for me it's cool.
I enjoy playing two games, and save close to $100.

Looks like the Microsoft execs have a massive Christmas party for themselves to pay for so quickly raised prices on EVERYTHING

It was always the plan.

Game Pass? Hard Pass, more like.

@Cakefish Interesting question. Many think that online will be free next generation, at least on Xbox, because of Play Anywhere and the third-party stores reportedly being part of the same ecosystem. My guess is that it will be free indeed and every Game Pass tier is there for the games and cloud gaming.

@Blue_Rover I saw IGN said it does not kick in till November 4th for current subscribers.

It’s good that there are improvements, but they’re charging for upgrades that not everyone necessarily needs.

@IOI and resell it if you want to.

@huroma

Yeah, it's not for everyone. I can squeeze 2-3 hours a day, so I could finish a few short games, or a little less if they're longer.
For example we'll be getting Ninja Gaiden 4 (probably on the shorter side) and The Outer Worlds 2 this month. Two games I wanna play.
The Outer Worlds 2 is probably gonna be big, but I think I can manage the two.

28500 points for a $30 gift card....Used to be 35,000 points for THREE months. I am so done with these MFers. Most likely going to have to go to PC. It's been real xbox

@JumpingJackson Very good point, just where do we go now? I still enjoy playing my Xbox as I always have. But to me it seems Microsoft / Xbox thought they were going to have a lot more subscribers by now, and 'only' about 35 million GamePass subscribers at the moment and they have to somehow make it for it by raising prices.

I was due to leave in October anyway. I can safely say I won't be looking back.

so a mandatory ubisoft + subscription. why?

Well… Xbox is out of touch with reality, as always.

For players who just wanna hop online and couldn’t care less about Game Pass, even the basic plan is ridiculously overpriced.

Honestly, I’m slowly dumping Xbox and putting my energy into the Switch 2… because guess what? I can play online there for just 20 bucks a year.

This is so sad

So even for XBOX studio games if you want day 1 you are FORCED to do the $30 tier? The second tier gets the xbox studio games "within the first year" ayo wtf lmaoooo im so pissed at this

Will our ultimate get converted to the highest tier or mid tier ?

LOL

My intention was to ride this train until it crashes (which isn't that far out), but I might need to get off and watch this from the sidelines at this point. Microsoft is just comically full mask off anti-consumer now and there's no way I'm giong to pay $30 a month, you know conversion tricks are going to go away with a 50% price increase. Also the PC price going up to $17, rofl. Incredible.

I can see the intention here, which is to stop putting day 1 games out for the majority of game pass users. Users that want them have to pay the exorbitant $30/mo, and everyone else should switch to standard which is getting 200 more games. The problem is we all got used to ultimate, for many years at $15. The optics on this are horrific and honestly, F these people.

I’ve had Gamepass/ultimate since its inception, but this is just too much of a price hike. What on earth were they thinking?!? I’m subbed until December, but after that I’m going to let my subscription lapse and just buy the games I want, preferably in sales. Thanks for the memories Gamepass, but I’m out.

@GeeEssEff yeah funny to think not only did they go against their word in saying they wouldn’t raise the price, but they raised it four times!

This is just another nail in Xbox's coffin. Nothing would drag me back to Gamepass at this point. If I was a teenager with so much more time on my hands it might appeal, but then I'd not be able to afford it. As an adult who can afford it but doesn't have the time to even complete one big game a month (more like 3 or 4 a year) it just doesn't offer value any more. I quit Gamepass two years ago and nothing about the service appeals to me now.

EDIT: Wow. I genuinely expected these comments to be full of people defending it as still good value, but no, it's just post after post of people voicing their legitimate opinion that Gamepass stinks. I am surprised and impressed.

Bought a Series S for $200 as a Game Pass machine. Now? I simply cannot justify that price.

One thing I'm sure of: my next system won't be Xbox (nor PlayStation, nor Nintendo, anyway).

You know Microsoft have dropped the ball when you and I agree with one another, @fatpunkslim... 😂

$30.00 per month. lol. I have not had game pass in months because I thought $20.00 was too much. OMG. Goodbye Xbox.

PureXbox.com, you can close the website. Xbox is killing itself.

Well, that was it. This is too expensive. I go back to buying just those games I want to play (mostly nintendo and bethesda games) and that's it. All those subscription services are getting too expensive, too fragmentated. I'm paying for game pass, nintendo online, psn, spotify, netflix, disney plus, skyshowtime and prime and still I need hbo. It drives me crazy. And now this price increase made me decide to cancel this service (and others) . Can't afford it anymore. We have to protest as consuners against all this nonsense.

Imagine waiting the entire gen on the promise in 2020 that Fable was coming so you should buy a series x and s. And game pass, or the game pass "tier" that Fable will only be available on now, the most expensive one, is 30 quid a month now............... before Fable even got a release date to this day.

This is why I was laughing at people saying "But but but but the roadmap". What about the roadmap? What does that even matter today? Look at what Xbox has been doing to itself the past decade under slimy Phil.

The ONLY consistent master plan Xbox initiated the past decade......is just how slow they are taking this band aid off so that their hardcore fans can easily digest all these horrendous decisions one week at a time......and then calm down their followers, the Cope Eastwoods and OhNoItsXbot people out there.

For the people saying they are suddenly done with Xbox NOW? Why now?

@Wakkawipeout love that you’re saving $2 a month. Good for you!

Humongous L.

Xbox just keeps making all the wrong decisions this generation. This is simply too expensive, especially since online play is $120 unless there’s a way to get it without a monthly subscription.

I'm blaming the orange gimp *****.

@HeavyHoggJP But it doesn't get them within a year. This time last year Starfield wasn't on any other tier but Ultimate. Right now Hellblade 2, released nearly a year and a half ago, is not on anything but Ultimate.

Its just an endless echo chamber of assumption and then misinformation, when it comes to anything Xbox.

It is what it is, but it’s no longer a good deal for me and my limited available time. Cancelled.
And the page seems overloaded because it took me way too long to even open the subscriptions page on my phone.

Microsoft can take a hike, a 52% increase on Ultimate here in Ireland!

I have 4 thoughts about this:

1. If Game Pass was profitable as Microsoft insisted just a month or two back, why the need to raise the price of the subscription by 50% (or more!)? My guess, Microsoft were not telling the whole truth with that particular statement.

2. Just how many people are going to quit the Service as a consequence of this huge increase in price? And will this price increase be enough to cover those who cancel their subscriptions? I highly doubt the second part of that question.

3. What will Microsoft do when they release the PCBox? Will they allow anyone that owns one to subscribe to PC Game Pass instead? Something tells me that somehow Microsoft will say that the PCBox does not qualify for PC Game Pass, which will go down like a lead balloon, and probably be substantively untrue as well.

4. I cannot recall a time when I have seen so many different people commenting on a single article. I have read every single comment, and am amazed that not even the usual suspects are trying to sell this as a win for Xbox. It is very refreshing, truth be told. It also demonstrates the depth of feeling over what is happening, which does not bode well for Game Pass subscriber numbers...

Does anyone know if Microsoft will allow us to downgrade our subscription? I have Ultimate, but I'd happily swap my remaining months to Essential instead, which would presumably equate to being subscribed to the service for much longer. I highly doubt you can, but I do know if that is the definitive answer...

It does seem like a BIG MISTAKE with MS about to launch their Handheld PC and of course all the other Handheld PC's and Streaming enabled devices to sell Subscriptions to.

I can't see a point in Essential or Premium Tier services on PC - not with ALL the cheap and free to play PC games available and Ultimate at that price is not very appealing - $360 a year!!!

On console, if you do cancel Ultimate and choose to buy games like CoD for 70, you still need at least Game Pass Essential to play it - even the Campaign. But on Steam, you pay 70 and that's it - no 'monthly' fee to play with friends.

Instead of increasing Subscriptions with their new Handheld PC, I can see them losing a LOT and pushing people to Steam/Epic or even Playstation (although you still need PS+to play a lot of games).

In fairness, for what they are adding to Ultimate - Ubisoft+, I can see a 'small' increase in price but in reality, most of the games are dirt cheap on sale anyway. I have no idea (or care about) Fortnite Crew and what that offers, and GeForce Now is much better for Streaming Quality anyway. Tha ability to 'earn' more Rewards is NO incentive to me.

A 'small' increase in what you get, but a Significantly large increase in cost - and for PC, a Massive increase in cost or massive nerf to their Service. Like I said, with so many cheap/free games and no 'subscriptions' required, Game Pass Ultimate is NOT looking like the best Gaming Subscription service anymore - PS+ Premium is far better than Xbox Premium!

Welp. This was a good five year run but 66% price hike in Ultimate and nerfing every other tier in favor of Ubisoft ***** list and effing Fortnite is the deal breaker.

From the best deal in gaming into a ***** show in one fell swoop. Canceled.

Nope. I'm out. I'll wait for them to realize their mistake, and come back when the price is sensible. Good for those who can afford that.

I already downgraded to core at the end of last year because I just couldn't justify Ultimate anymore. Sounds like I will just be sticking with core for good until I am done needing online access on Xbox, which might be pretty soon looking at the way things have been going. If the monthly rate keeps going up I'm out. Stuff like this is why I plan to go with a PC next gen.

All i get out of this is a price increase for no extra benefits as the new Ultimate additions offer me nothing I want. So I am going to be downgrading but at the moment I am not sure if I will go for premium or essential.

Golden days of gamepass are over that is for sure and it was a good while it lasted. Everything good ends eventually.

I've had GP since it was launched along with the XSX on day one. $30/month is too expensive for getting the same old thing. Looks like it's time to cancel since this service as it's now more expensive than buying individual games.

@TheOldHunter4K I usually get the vouchers from loaded too.
My game pass expires at the end of April.
I might just get another years of vouchers now.
Works out £145 cheaper than paying the new monthly fee for a year once my current subscription expires.

Now I am not the customer for this but I suppose if you buy a system as a “gamepass” machine then this is still a good deal. Not sure how many gamers are purely subs only though.

Yep, im out. Cancelling now

I used to be a big Xbox defender, and yes, I cheered on the ABK deal, but new Xbox is dead to me. I cancelled my preorder for the Xbox ROG Ally X and will start buying their games on deep sale. Which saddens me, because they own some of my favorite franchises..

@Alex79uk I too am surprised but heartened. I’m glad to see people waking up. Now, if we can just get them to get Nintendo and £70 games off their altar…

@Fiendish-Beaver
As far as I'm aware, you have to let your current subscription expire, wait a day, then you can join again on any tier.

I'm sure someone else will chip in if not correct.

@JumpingJackson

70 bucks for a game is a reasonable price.

I don't logon so much nowadays, but had to comment. So many great comments here, couldn't like all of them.
Not signing off at all, but feel this really does spell the end of all that good time we had. I used to say In Phil we Trust, lol
Would love Fraser (!) to do I poll, idk IF you are serious about leaving GP, then if ms had NOT bought the big studios, would you stay with GP?
Maybe not a greatly worded poll, but eg If there was no CoD day 1 no fortnight bundle, or Hogwarts, would you be happier to stay on GP at the lower monthly cost.
Again, I know there are cheaper tries, but those are limited games, no day one, all the things we kinda had before the latest changes...
Don't hate me, just feel it's over for Xbox... How many will turn to piracy, and no that isn't MS fault...
I'll stop now before there's a backlash to me lol, I have a lot of IFs
Good luck all, be happy with your choices

I wonder if they've silently axed the family and friends tier that they were on about a number of months back? Surely this would have been the place to reveal it?

@Timppis The world we are in now, I can't tell whether this is parody or you're a shareholder.

Been a shed load of comments here, and none of them positive, as rightly so.✊🏼

Here's a number crunch for you....

Xbox top tier in the UK is gonna be £276 a year.

Playstation top tier is £120 a year.

That's a difference of nearly 79 percent.

Now, unless PlayStation put a massive price hike on, and soon, It's a hard ask to say that all the new unwanted gubbins and access to games day one is worth such a difference.

What say you all?

@IOI RIP Xbox, what's the point of Xbox now.

What a mess! They really want to destroy the Xbox brand don’t they? I would think that will mean £28 a month in the UK or more for the top one. Stood £336 a year. I can only see many people leaving Xbox now, build a PC or buy one or a PC handheld and go to Steam, or move to PlayStation. Valve are going to be launching a joint console at some point too.. Xbox is done for IMO.

Why is Phill Spencer still employed by Microsoft? Spending around 90 billion US on acquisitions has killed the brand.

Absolutely outrageous price increase for the only tier that matters. Not in the least bit interested in any of the rubbish that's been added. This is very disappointing news.

@JumpingJackson

Video game prices have been stagnant for 25 years. 70 bucks is alright in a market that is full of games ranging from small indie games priced at five bucks up to 70-80 buck AAA-games.

It's entirely ok.

It was really good when it was $14.99. At $30... 😬.

Xbox just loves to shoot themselves in the foot.

Can't unsubscribe from the app or website. Tells to contact support. Support doesn't answer due to high traffic.

People might be really mad right now.

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 Ms/xb is definitely up their own arses. They're trying everything to kill this gen and speed into the next one. But with these price rises(console, game pass), the price of xbox ally, just feels like they're tying to condition us for $800+ nexbox.

$120 for online play. That's ridiculous.

Well, people can also choose not to subscribe to GamePass. It's optional. 😉

Wow. I'm sure some folks will continue to cough up for this, but I'm not one of them. Another nail in the xbox coffin.

Going from $14.99 to $29.99 is beyond disgusting, you add in the increase price in the hardware and it seems Microsoft is purposely tanking so it can become third party.

Nothing else makes sense, there's no way all this is to get more consoles into homes.

So they aren't happy with selling a £800 handheld, they want more Game Pass money - to be honest I'm pissed off with this

As many have already said, Ultimate may finally be too rich for my blood. I share it with my youngest son, so I will get his opinion before I do anything. But we both game on other systems too, and $30 per month is a lot considering that Xbox is far from our only gaming platform.

My sub lapsed in Sep, I was planning to work on my backlog then come back. That plan has changed. Unless I can buy ultimate gift cards at currentbprice and redeem later, in which case maybe I pick up a 3 month card now. Probably not worth the bother

There are talks that they may be addding ADS to the cheaper tier GP!!!

With 12% tax where I am in Canada, it is now almost 40$ a month. It is a better value now to buy games I can always play. This insane increase along with the savage job cuts they have done, is too much. I just cancelled gamepass.

What...the...actual....phuque...

@electrolite77 even worse....it's Ubisoft+ "Classic" which is even more lame than the full library.

In 2022, we had GPU for less than $6/mo with the conversion. We all said "these are the golden day, enjoy it" and we were right.

In 2023, we said the ABK merger would spike prices, and we were right.

In 2024, MS said GP was profitable but we knew it wasn't with all the true costs included, and we were right.

In 2025, MS increased hardware and GPU prices and we said they were no longer interested in the console market. Are we right?

“This is what you pay now.”

This is so bad !

@FraserG you work for xbox or purexbox? If xbox, you might want to let the tools upstairs know their cost to profit analysis is way off. 75% of users will cancel because we want day one games for $20. They'll lose money with how mad gamers are.

@Tdx Once they see a huge drop in the Game Pass sub section, they will be going into panic mode trying to make it right

The only way I will be getting Game Pass Ultimate in the future is if I can continue to get those 30% off codes. Once they are done then I am done. I didn't think £14.99 a month was worth it let alone £22.99.

Ultimate was already too pricey for me. This is a no-brainer - in the bad way.

This is one of those things where I can see the supposed "value" from all the bits they stuck together but the actual number is just too high. I will likely have to treat this like Disney Plus, sign up for a month and run away.

@Timppis economics beginner? Or read something on Reddit you can parrot around? Stand together never on the side of big business. Inflation blah blah blah. Pay packets have not kept in line with inflation, so £70 is not £70 to the average wallet.

Fortunately, it’s still possible to take advantage of discount codes — without them, Game Pass Ultimate would be way too expensive.

Xbox doing their absolute best to confuse people even more with another update to the names for Game Pass.

I laugh at all the big three plead poverty and go on about costs and start increasing prices or skimping.

Then every quarter tell us how well they are doing with this and that. Sometimes record profits for some of them.

Wow. Pretty much doubling the price of Ultimate in the space of a few months by bundling in something that a lot of people don’t want (or occasionally opt to pay separately) is just plain stupid and arrogant. It’ll lose them a lot of top end subs.

@FraserG Just want to say you’re a legend. Your always friendly to people no matter how much sh%t they give you (me included on occasion) and always positive despite how news like this must make your job more difficult. I genuinely hope PX has a long a prosperous future for you and Ben because you guys work your socks off.

Gamepass was a fun monthly subscription until now… no one can say Xbox owners don’t buy games… now we will only buy games

Apparently the Micro website has crashed, with everyone trying to unsub at once

I wish could opt outof bits I don’t use like pc,stream, Fortnite pass to reduce cost. My 3 year stack ends dec so was due to do the 3 year ea pass convert to 1 ultimate but need to figure out how that will work. I’ll be dropping to essential or premium. Have huge backlog and just brought helldivers and bf6 so busy for while on these. Then will buy gta 6 so don’t think need it much next year

@brettvsgodzilla in the UK you can get EA Play for 1 year for £20 from Argos. That would give you 1 year of Ultimate for £75 before. Now it's £82 for 7 months. Still worth it for me, but only just, and it's a decent outlay almost twice a year.

Sorry if you aren't in the UK and this is therefore irrelevant!

@Scrubchub thanks. These will get snapped up from Argos the Amazon ones already gone. Does this only convert to ultimate or could you convert to premium and get longer. Thanks dude

Ive been with gamepass from the start but I decided to downgrade to core 2 months ago due to budgeting cuts i had to make and i figured it was about time anyway as the year's lineup didn't interest me as well as having a mile long backlog. I always see comments about how nobody uses cloud gaming but ironically that was what I primarily used it for. Being able to play current gen games on last gen hardware kept me from upgrading until finally I decided xbone wasn't cutting it for me anymore and it was time. So, I was surprised, that in spite of the moronic price hikes, M$oft was gracious enough to give us cloud gaming on the now "essential " tier. I dont use it much except to play games in my backlog that are included in order to save storage space but its nice. And as far as this lag everyone's experienced, I only got that in the beginning and usually it was because multiple devices were on my home network eating bandwidth. The solution was to simply turn off unessential hardware.

This price rise is bonkers, although I’m always surprised by people who pay monthly when discount codes from other sites are available. I have just added another 6 months GPU for £64 tonight. I’m okay until May 2028 so if others are wanting to continue it can be done for about £11 per month in the uk.

Okay now I'm pissed. I just checked and they upped the price on a year for Game Pass Core. Just back in Feburary of this year I bought a year for $60, now it's selling for $75.

Sure, it's only $15 more but it's amazing how these increases can become a straw that broke the camel's back, making me ask if I really need it. Might just abandon their online services entirely, I play most games on PS5 now anyways.

@brettvsgodzilla

if you’re UK based just grab one from shopto, 3 months for £33.51

Soo... 1st Party games are now guaranteed in the first year, but not on Day 1 if you go Premium? Am I understanding that correctly? Because there's no way in hell I'm paying $30 a month for Ubishit and a subscription to a game I don't ever plan to play. Hell, I'm not even interested in most of the 1st-party games we have announced so far. Perfect Dark and Everwild cancelled, Fable nowhere to be found, Halo being more irrelevant with ever new title... Ninja Gaiden 4 and Powerwash Simulator 2 are the only GP games I have left on my wishlist this year. I'll ride it out long enough to play NG4, but I'm out after that.

@kmtrain83

It’s even worse when you consider the $30 per month versus a $60 or $70 game

But let's get real, none of the people writing here (or very few) are paying full price for Ultimate. You only pay full price if you have a recurrent monthly subscription and don't redeem any of the Rewards points you inevitably get for Microsoft credit. If you do the Standard-Ultimate conversion, Ultimate is only 10% more expensive now. You can also buy third-party codes for Ultimate and the other tiers.

Well it's been coming. GamePass has been a money pit for years.

@kmtrain83 The third-party codes are legal. They are not random codes nor stolen. I don't know why they are cheaper, though, and I don't know why Microsoft is the only of the three that let third parties sell subscriptions. They are more generous with free credit as well and have this conversion that I didn't expect to only be 10% more expensive now.

Yeah, the monthly subscription price of one of the three tiers is much more expensive now, no doubt about it and 100% of the users agree, but there are more options for everyone that has five minutes. It's true that they added extras, but the added value is more an excuse to make Ultimate more expensive. The Ubisoft deal for older titles must have cost peanuts. The Fortnite subscription is more surprising, as it's relatively expensive on its own ($€10).

Games are very expensive on day one now, on all platforms, including PC. The price is the same: $€70 for the standard editions. Even Nintendo's old ports are not much cheaper. Microsoft has more studios now, so they thought that people that want to play more games at a higher price on day one have to pay the price. Of course, it's not great for us that were paying little for Ultimate until now, and of course it's silly to say that they are giving more options, because that would have been Ultimate and Ultimate Plus. It's as simple as that gaming is getting more expensive for consumers across the board, and playing new games on day one is becoming a luxury.

If anyone is curious, I've been subscribed to Game Pass since it was some kind of beta that did not even have first-party game on day one. The price has increased progressively, the content as well, but I've never paid the full price. I've always used codes for Gold and Core and the conversion to Ultimate, and all the Microsoft credit that I earn even not doing anything but just playing games and using Bing has been used for buying games.

The average gamer scenario never favoured Game Pass: why having hundreds of games when the gamer does not have time to play more than a small couple of games per month?

The original concept of Games With Gold (the pre-GP version that offered older AAA games) was much better because the player three new games to play each month and still could play the ones from previous months which made possible to create a big permanent collection overtime. Luckily, Sony still keeps this concept so it's time to move on to PS.

@Madnurz this is what I did a little earlier, extended it by six months so I’m covered til the end of next November.
It worked out a couple of quid per voucher compared to Loaded.

@General-Foley Yeah , Loaded (hate the new name) was my previous go to for codes. I noticed they upped the price to £35.99 in checkout for 3 months, despite it showing as £31.79 on the initial page. Thought I would check shopto as that annoyed me and it was a couple of pounds cheaper. Glad you’re sorted bud.

@Scrubchub Isn't the Core-Ultimate conversion better than the EA-Ultimate conversion? I haven't checked recently, though. EDIT: I see you did the maths here:

https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/10/xbox-reveals-new-conversion-rates-for-game-pass-premium-and-ultimate#comment8846951

Really the biggest winner out this is Gamefly.

If not a member, I really really, really, really, encourage ALL of you to look into it. All the benefits it offers, plus the service outweighs this price hike rubbish.

Can get movies too.

@SodaPop6548 I really feel this more nadella. He's a terrible CEO.

All he cares about is creating anything and everything into an unnecessary, overpriced subscription service.

@EvenStephen7 "Well there's proof that the critics were right: Gamepass was unsustainable. Now it's quickly veering from "the best deal in gaming" to a niche service."

That is EXACTLY what I've said for at least two years now and in my past above (post #234). People made fun of and laughed at me. Guess who was right all along? Yup. Me.

@kmtrain83 If Game Pass is a good deal or not depends on how much you pay for the tier and how much you use it. It's true that it's not ownership, but you (and everybody else) don't replay most of the games you play once, and you can always buy those that you intend to. You can buy an Xbox game in the future, generally cheaper after 6-12 months, and your save will be waiting for free on the cloud (very underrated feature) and you won't need to buy the same game on the next platform. As far as digital purchases go, it's as user-friendly as possible. You have two options, ownership and subscription and you don't get penalised for switching nor stopping. You also get the PC version with Play Anywhere and I hope that more games join it. An "old" release like Hogwarts Legacy just did.

@Madnurz that’s exactly what happened to me. (Definitely agree about the name) I got to the checkout and as you said the price was higher so thought best to double check Shopto before pulling the trigger.

Right. That's it for me, then. I'm paid up until November, and after that, I'm done with Game Pass. I don't get that much value out of it. In this economy, I really have to pick and choose when it comes to luxuries like gaming. We will all take our own decisions on this based on the subjective value of the service, but that's it for me.

@BaldB3lper78 I looked at that a few times now, but I can never get over the fact you're just renting a pc. You don't get any games. I have a console I just need regular games for it.
If before offered a catalogue of games though, that service would slay.

$10 price increase for Ultimate and getting the better handheld for $1,000. Looking like something for sure...

Too bad. My XboxS was a Game Pass machine. No longer. Fun while it lasted.

Well this is effectively as close as you can get to killing the brand before killing it.

I have Ultimate just because a cheap conversion to end of 2026. But after that? I don't even think any version of GamePass, maybe PC but this about seals that I'm done with Xbox consoles after Series X (and not even because disc games on Xbox are about dead).

Nice run for Xbox I guess, but a big wet fart to kill itself even with still existing.

I don't quite understand. Name change sure, but the games cycle so much so 400+ games? I didn't even understand Core, PC or Ultimate and what was behind them due to what deals get made. So this doesn't really solve that.

What extent it's maintaining now of games, licenses, pricing, deals, contracts, and things that did well, games that were built with Gamepass in mind yet badly managed no one liked which is their OWN FAULT but they will blame players then actually realise what they did, own up to it and just waste more time making mistakes.

Off topic:

=======================================================

I haven't cared for Xbox other then back compat or odd apps/CD to Blu-ray support and that's it. Xbox One games that are old if I care to that's it.

Other then that I don't use the Series X, I just hear/see what some of my family uses it for on occasion. I haven't touched it once. The PS5 I've touched barely more then 5 times just to beat Space Marine 2, hated Ratchet Rift Apart and otherwise help out if family need help in a game. Family use their own PS5s. I'm not bothered, no games I want, any I was they flopped or were decent but not ground breaking need to play this.

Most IPs don't interest me in their direction. So If I'm just getting particular Indies I can tolerate or retro games, waiting for something interesting or backlog physical/digital then why bother. I don't buy digital on Xbox either.

Rest I'm on PS4/Switch/retro consoles, even 360 for back compat OG Xbox or 360 and if not Xbox One/Series back compat or if I even care to put it for them either if I don't care and just run a 360 game off a 360 instead.

I haven't used my Xbox One in months due to the account nonsense syncing the Microsoft accounts have I just can't be bothered. I will work on it, I just can't be bothered. No games I'm that desperate to play on it, hate the Xbox One/Series dashboard as it is. I'm not missing out on anything.

Xbox has a few decent games but nothing I'm that fussed over. The services aren't really that enticing to me.

===================================================

I don't care for subscriptions anyway but I like to know for research sake or talking to those that do use the services to understand better. Or understand the current business details.

Cloud gaming on Essential tier ok. Online multiplayer is normal. Benefits that varies, earnings with Microsoft Rewards ok. PC on all tiers. Ok that's something I guess to be more flexible to all platforms not just pushing it to 2nd/3rd tiers.

Shorter wait times is hilarious, what did we borrow that from GeForce Now did we Microsoft? XD I get it but even still it's just hilarious.

The new games within a year of launch? Ok.....

75+ day one games a year.... ok then of whatever cycles through. Ubisoft and EA are that tier, huh ok then.

Unlimited cloud and best quality sure, and $100 rewards.

They are very loose on differences that's for sure.

So less PC limited to 2nd/3rd tiers then?

I called this a year ago after the first price increase, they want to push Xbox gamers to PC and I've been saving towards that the past year so when my sub is up end of November I'll be there without Gamepass and my Steam and Epic library. Crazy and totally disconnected from the market. Who gives a crap about Day 1 when the games launch buggy? I knew they'd keep doing this.

If you defend this then you're a corporate shill as far as i'm concerned. You're better off just buying the games then subbing yearly now. Its disgusting and makes freaking Plus a better deal.

I unsubscribed from GPU about 15 months ago, largely because I could not see a reason for the arbitrary price hike at the time. Since then, I've been happy only buying games in the sales.

Glad I did.

There's absolutely no reason for this latest price increase, other than utter greed.

Without being dramatic - I think this is ridiculous, and might well be fatal for GPU and for MS Xbox.

Insane.

I think someone hit their head really hard to raise the price by 50 percent for the Ultimate subscription. I'm in favor of an official boycott of Xbox GamePass!!!

As of right now, this AM, Loaded.com are selling 3 month Ultimate codes for £36.

If any of you are thinking of staying on Ultimate, £12 a month is quite a bit cheaper than Microsoft's £23 a month mugging.

EDIT: check out shopto, they have a LOWER price than Loaded, as of 8am.

All things considered, I've slept on it and MAY drop down to Essential in the new year, IF I stay subscribed. £40 for the year, just over £3 a month.

Ultimate, with all the 'added extras' holds no interest to me, even at £12 a month.

Though that £40/£3.33 price will probably change before January I'm sure.

So playing a game on gamepass now required extensive research as to which tier will provide me access. It’s like they want to complicate the process so much they alienate their customer, I mean 90% of these games are only a couple $ at the local GameStop or cex guys!!

@Mincey0 that's the thing that really annoys me - is so staggeringly convoluted. There are still some decent deals to be had through conversion but it does require a high initial investment.

PC gaming has never looked more attractive to be honest.

I'll be downgrading to premium. We all knew a price increase was coming, but even I'm disappointed. It's a blatant money grab.

IMO they should have offered the Ubi/fortnight nonsense as an add on for any tier instead of forcing it on the ultimate tier.

@Scrubchub I have the rog ally pc gaming a great, especially handheld, To be honest I was thinking PlayStation plus extra had never looked so attractive, I might dust off the old ps4 and look into a new ps5 over the holidays.

I’ve been thinking about this (because apparently I don’t have enough to think about 🫩).

I’ll preface this with I’m only going on little tidbits I’ve read here and there; I have done zero actual research.

Doesn’t the Microsoft CEO really dislike like the gaming division and wants to get rid of it if he could? They’ve been - seemingly - moving to a third party model.

The Saudis et al have just made a move to purchase EA for a lot of money. Could this be a plan to make it look super profitable (or super profitable-looking) in order to entice Saudi money to come and buy the gaming division?

@Mincey0 that's what I'm finding really frustrating. The fact that they've also changed the names at the same time for extra confusion is soooooo cynically done. But the most expensive tier is still good old 'Ultimate'?! Clearly just hoping people will give up in the confusion and stick with Ultimate to save their sanity.

And funnily enough I was in CEX yesterday looking at the old AC games. You could get a good selection of those for £30 - most of the series in fact. And cheaper again on eBay.

@Mincey0 I've always been a fan of PC gaming since I was a kid playing Commander Keen on my dad's 386 sx with 4mb of RAM (I remember getting an upgrade to 8mb!). With the ability these days to use a PC basically exactly like a console from the couch then it is basically impact to ignore that option.

@Fiendish-Beaver I remember many comments of yours in recent months questioning the profitability of Game Pass and predicting this significant price hike. So credit for reading the room correctly, but I think we can all agree that it kinda sucks that you were right in the end haha 😅

I completely failed in my prediction of no price rise until 2026. I didn’t think they’d be brazen enough to do another price rise for a third year in a row. They went above and beyond that though with such a steep price hike so soon!

@Cakefish They are clearly taking advantage of the rog xbox ally that just around the corner.

Truthfully, I hate that I was right too, @Cakefish. Sometimes being right about something when everyone else disagrees with you is not all that much fun...

Well I’ve always had a soft spot for Team Green (and that’s despite owning a PS5Pro too) but this is a step too far for me. I’m subbed up to May 2026 and then I’m out.

I will keep my Series X and buy a few of the games I play regularly such as AoE4, but £23pm isn’t justifiable in my world.

With all due respect, more like "say goodbye". I tried to lower my subscription tier yesterday but the service was down. That was a punch in the guts

I don't know, I think this might be it for me too. I've been on current ultimate for a while, and quite like it cause I try and complete all sorts of games I might not buy, but 23 quid a month, seems excessive.

Could still do premium etc., but it feels like a significant step down for the same money ish I pay now, so I don't like that.

Been thinking of making the jump to PC for a while, and this might be it to be honest. That said, to start with I don't think I'm renewing anymore, I got a backlog of bought games to deal with anyway.

Pity this is where we ended up with GP, I guess all that noise about it not being profitable enough was true in the end (be that because of corporate greed or whatever). I guess it was nice while it lasted.

Extra fiver, not ideal at all but at least they have given us a bit more in compensation, they could just have raised it and done nothing more....

To add some positivity into this, has any tried the new XCloud? I fired it up on my TV and it looks really good. It is very impressive.

@Banjo- Yeah, When's Shadows coming 😂

@Kaloudz Yeah probably, they ran trials in Ireland and somewhere else i cannot remeber but cannot have worked out

@Fishysensei Core is a downgraded Xbox Gold. Games with Gold allowed us to keep (Xbox 360) games. It's dumb we have to pay to play online. Lol

@GuyinPA75 Regardless of being right or wrong, I don't know why you're so excited about being this. I never understood people who get excited about being right about something negative.

"Let's go! Game Pass is getting more expensive! In your faces!"

@EvenStephen7 I don't know if they'll sell off IPs. They didn't do it with Perfect Dark, despite being given the option by Take-Two. They'll close more studios before resorting to selling.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner the rog alley was 1k last year not sure how this is xbox problem asus are making there handheld 1k this year too

@Alex79uk Yeah Tbh most people have a biased opinion on Xbox gamers as a whole maybe it's the bad choices that Microsoft makes gets actual people who just game on Xbox a bad name!
Nobody in there right mind would defend this change unless they love fortnight and Ubisoft games that is haha ✌️

@GuyinPA75 I don't remember people saying to you that there wouldn't be price hikes everyone excepted that just not to this level which I'm sure you didn't expect either!
If you taught this exact situation was going to happen your basically mystic meg!
Nobody saw this huge bump coming I'm sorry

im planning on playing outer worlds 2, ninja gaidan 4 and keeper in oct thats around £150 worth of games where gamepass ult is now £23 still great value to me 🤷

Price rises for Xbox and lack of competition equals price rises for Playstation. Nobody wins in this situation.

@Vipor007 they aint selling it Asus are

@Fiendish-Beaver
Nobody saw this huge bump coming everyone taught a price rise would be coming but nobody expected this at all.
Not trying to be arse about this but nobody called this out at all!
This is much more than a rise in price that could actually be and was predicted by basically everyone✌️

@Lanmanna
I agree that having to pay to play online is pretty dumb but it's not like I have a choice in the matter if I want to be able to play with my friends and family.
But like I also said, online is the only reason that I, personally, use the service and in that regard, I get what I pay for.
Like, if there was a tier that gave access to online multiplayer and nothing else, I would have jumped to that, no question.

The fact that I can also subscribe to Core for 3 months for less than what 1 month of Ultimate costs is also a huge plus for me.

My Game Pass Ultimate doesn’t expire until June 2026.

I won’t be renewing for any tier.

@Ricky-Spanish @Lanmanna Game Pass business model is insanely flawed and incredibly unsustainable.

For at least two years I've continued to beat that drum and tried to brace everyone in order for game pass to survive it will most likely hit $40 - $50 a month within a few years. Very few believed me. The time is here. It's coming. And soon.

Game pass is not a good thing for gamers or developers. People are finally (though slowly) starting to realize this. Xbox Live was perfectly fine since it's inception. There was no need to mess with it. Any time a corporation starts to twist a narrative of something to have it sound great for consumers is when consumers should immediately take notice to change that narrative back.

Corporations are not out to help you, unless it's to help you unnecessarily part with your money.

Very surprised with the jump in price for basically just Ubisoft+ Classics (which I have no interest in as I either own or played the games), Fortnite Crew (I don’t even play the game) and extra Reward points (of which I’ll at least take advantage of). I’m still going to keep subscribing to Ultimate as my youngest kid plays Fortnite and would benefit from the Fortnite Crew membership. Also I’d still like to play day one games that get added to Ultimate. I’m dropping my oldest kid’s Game Pass tier to Essential as he only needs the online multiplayer for the 2 or 3 games he only plays.

@GuyinPA75 I'm well aware that Microsoft couldn't care if I'm alive or dead they only care about money!
Even if you did comment about gamepass going to 40/50 a month you are still miles off the price is nowhere near that!
I said it to the beaver aswell when he calmed to predict it nobody predicted this everyone predicted a price increase because that was Obviously going to happen!
Nobody called this I'm sorry ✌️
Looks like this story has gotten your attention though I've never seen so many comments from you about a single story ha!

Man, the start of the sereis x era was slow and then slowly it picked up. I thought after the xbox one disaster Xbox would be hungry to bite back. Oh boy did they bite back. They bit back so hard they bit off their tongue and are now choking on it..... I'm wodnering just how bad things are gonna go now. Gamepass at 50 bucks in 2 years time? Hell yeah baby... I'm gonna be focusing on pc and upgrading my pc when and if it becomes necessary. Shame really, after it looked great for a moment. Getting priced out of a hobby is what hurts the most......

It's over, I'm canceling my Gamepass subscription because this is a clear daytime robbery.🤬 I have a pre-purchased Gamepass Ultimate which expires on September 12, 2026, but after that I will not be purchasing any more Gamepass or a new XBOX console because the prices of both consoles and Gamepass have gone out of control.🤬 My current XBOX Series X will be my last console and I will be switching to PC gaming and Steam for good. I still own every XBOX generation console and games but this was the last straw. I'm finally moving to PC gaming for good which I've been slowly integrating into over the last year.

@Ricky-Spanish Definitely has my attention. So much so, if I was given choice - - leave Xbox Live alone and still release the Series S, or never have Series S release and have Game Pass instead. I'd pick release the Series S.

Yep, I despise Game Pass that much. And that's coming from me.

@GuyinPA75 Haha 🤣 now I know your not messing around!!
It's definitely changing into a different animal alright with this restructure and come next gen I'm sure there will be more changes to it if not before!
For me Microsoft seem to really be pushing for cloud gaming and to be a subscription service/publisher and are only begrudgingly continuing to support there consoles and next gen will probably just be a pre built pc!
I love Xbox I prefer the ecosystem and controller and have my profile a long time but it's looking like if I just want a gaming "console" for next gen the new playstation will be the only one available!🤦

I'm sure if you look back at my history of comments on this topic, you will see that I have said a fair few times that there will need to be a huge increase in price in order for Game Pass to be sustainable, @Ricky-Spanish. I'm absolutely certain I have, however, I never said how much that would be.

Also, you are missing the point of what I said above, I said that Game Pass is not making a profit. That is what I am saying I am right about. Whether or not Game Pass is sustainable.

The reason I said that is because either Microsoft were telling us the truth, and Game Pass is profitable, in which case Microsoft are being exceptionally callous and greedy at a time when people's finances are restricted. Or, Microsoft were telling us lies, and the service was not profitable, and this 50%+ hike is an attempt to rectify that.

My money is on Microsoft having lied to us, or at the very least been disingenuous with the statement that Game Pass was profitable. Maybe there was some obscure part of the world where is was, or more likely a particular element of it was profitable, however, I don't believe that Game Pass is profitable, or sustainable in its current guise, and this is what I said I had said on a number of occasions...

@Fiendish-Beaver Yeah I would agree with that obviously it wasn't profitable enough in it's old form for them to keep it going that's why they raised up the price of ultimate.
It's like literally everything the price is just going up and up for the same or less than you got before.

@JumpingJackson

Progressive green politician from EU and primary and soc teacher actually. Video gaming is one of the things where capitalism is very much ok.

Video games don't have to even reflect the current inflation rate and yet they have been constantly and significantly under it for a really long time.

Arguing about a 70 dollar or 70 euro video game with the same argument or vehement as one would energy, housing, groceries or healthcare is frankly in my view childish and idiotic.

Especially when we are in a world where as I said before, there is more games than ever before by more developers than ever before with more variation and prices than ever before. Anyone can vote with their wallet, but saying that there should be some hard price limit for games based on mainly gamers nostalgia is just wrong. It's just stupid in my opinion

@BattleMonkey Shame if it's been shelved indefinitely, because that would have been very nice for many, many gamers.

If Game Pass was profitable, @electrolite77, Microsoft could have increased the price by a couple of pounds / dollars and pretty much everyone of us would have stayed with the service, and Microsoft would have continued to make profit, and kept that line ticking upwards.

What Microsoft have done here is drive a substantial number of people away from the service meaning that they will struggle to make that profit. For the service to be sustainable, Microsoft need people to subscribe and stay subscribed. This hike has done the opposite.

What this 50%+ price increase says is that Microsoft needed to increase the price substantially in order to make a profit. Whether they honestly believed that everyone would suck it up and stick with the service, or whether they calculated a certain percentage of people would leave, but that the number of people that remained would be enough to ensure that profit, is the question.

Personally, I think Microsoft have not read the planet; they have not taken into account how people are struggling worldwide with daily costs, and they have forgotten that gaming is a hobby, not an essential. I honestly very much doubt that Microsoft expected an exodus the size of which they will likely see, and as a consequence, I highly doubt that Game Pass will be turning a profit any time in the near future.

In all honesty, I think that Microsoft are deliberately sabotaging the service because to make it sustainable, they need the current subscriber numbers to be paying the new rates, and that just is not going to happen because people will be leaving in their droves, or at the very least moving to a lower tier. I think Microsoft know this, and can only see one way out, and that is to do away with day one games on the service, and thus by driving people away from Ultimate, they can then get rid of it. I know that sounds very conspiratorial, but if it is not that, then Microsoft are either being plain greedy, or plain negligent...

I believe that Microsoft have raised the price so significantly in an attempt to make the service profitable, @Ricky-Spanish, and that they know that a certain percentage are likely to leave altogether, meaning they could not just say if we raise it by 25%, and everyone stays, then the service will be profitable, so that's all they we need to do.

Instead, Microsoft probably calculated that there would be (say) 10% of people who would leave, and that the remaining 90% would then to cover that missing 10% of subscribers subscription fees, thus they actually needed to raise the price by 50%.

The real question is, have Microsoft miscalculated the hardship people are feeling in their every day life, miscalculated how this rise would be received, and miscalculated just how many people will leave the service, and forgotten that gaming is just a hobby, and not an everyday essential, because if it is just that 10%, then fine, they will turn a profit, but if it is 15% of people that quit, then the service remains in trouble.

*Just to be clear, I'm not saying 10% or 15% are the actual figures, I am just using them for example purposes...

@Timppis "frankly in my view childish and idiotic." | "It's just stupid in my opinion"

A teacher, so willing to throw around the word 'stupid' as it relates to someone's opinions? Great.

As a society we have allowed gaming to become weaved into the fabric of existence and companies know this and are trying to squeeze people in the same way every other company - energy, groceries, healthcare etc. They are all at it. To tell one of them this is ok, is to let them all get away with it. The classic American line 'the market will decide', the markets run by the companies.

There can be a hard limit, the tired trope of 'games haven't risen with inflation' is just that: tired. Do you feel better when you are told "Oh, we know these groceries are expensive, but technically they're cheaper than they were 10 years ago, even though your wallet doesn't feel that way and your pay hasn't kept up."

If games are too expensive to make, then stop making the same photo-realistic swill that we put up with now. Go back to smaller, more focused games, where graphics aren't the be-all and end-all and bring the cost down that way.

And the problem with games being £70 is that you absolutely will see people not buying them. We have not had the first nor second Christmas period since these price hikes. You have the die-hards buying games at the moment. The Christmas season is where you get parents looking at the cost and thinking 'no, this is too much'. Companies lose money, staff lose jobs, all because the post covid shareholders want that covid-era growth and priced games too high.

Silksong, for example. Shovelknight for another.

And I don't for a second believe that you're a green politician, and if that is the case, I suspect you've picked the wrong party.

@JumpingJackson

I have no problem calling arguments or even opinions stupid and I stand by that regardless of how you attach it to my teaching. Arguments, opinions and adults as well.

Video games are not groceries. Video gaming market is not a necessity. Groceries are. Weaving these two things together is not valid. Eating, heat, electricity, housing, healthcare, transportation. These should all be available to every single human on the planet affordably or without cost.

Video games are not those. If you defend a hard line then why do you get to say what it is? And is it 60 bucks? That's not affordable to all. So is it your pompous or my middle-class fat ass that gets to do that decision for a market that is not a necessity and that delivers goods and services by demand not by need?

Gamers want large AAA games as well as the cheaper games. They absolutely want them. They want the photorealistic shooter. They want the absolutely massive open worlds. If people didn't want those games they wouldn't sell millions and millions of units every single year.

There are many many many many problems within the gaming industry for example the ongoing consolidation of smaller companies to these massive capital investing horror shows ie. EA-purchase latest.

Or the crunch and toxic environments and the labor rights of the workers, anti-unionism in the States, growing use of AI to detour or straight up FU immaterial rights and acting etc.

But a price range of a game. That is absolutely in the hands of the companies. We are not owed anything in terms of that.

I just canceled my Game Pass that was the best god darn value in gaming for five years after XSX was released. Absolute gold before now turned into too little value for the money.

But it is still their right to make that decision on what to put there or how to price it. I don't get to do that as a customer in an industry like this. I am not supposed to have a bargain power in this other than my wallet.

And even though you might argue with the christmas sales I'll say that it is bollocks and any 70 buck well known IP with strong marketing or good reviews is still selling bonkers at holidays. Gaming is NOT a kids market and hasn't been that in over a decade. It's a hobbyist market.

So yeah. It doesn't matter one bit if you don't believe me to be who I am. But saying stuff like video games are on par with necessities is childish and stupid. They are not. Warhammer 40k is disgustingly expensive these days. Do they have the right to keep it like that? Yes.

If you want to stand for some affordable hobbies I'd say go for the sports. That's where the kids money is.

@Fiendish-Beaver It hasn't been raised 50% in my region at least I was paying 15.99 euros it's gone up to 25.99 or 26.99 and with rewards for me I'd be looking at 8 quid a month so for me in my region it's not to bad a jump!
But it's still a hefty bump in price per month and a fair bit to much in my opinion!

So it has gone up more than 50% in your region then, @Ricky-Spanish!

To be precise it has gone up 62.5% if it is 25.99. If it is now 26.99 then it has gone up 68.8%.

That is a pretty hefty increase if you ask me...

@electrolite77 the point is we shouldn’t be buying the games at this price. Do I need to talk slower or louder?

terrible, never pay for gamepass again. its called now "TakeYourMoneyYESSS"

"Enter my world of gamepass"

"Ok Xbox"

"$360"

"No Xbox"

@Kaloudz Yeah Mate including me too, Maybe this will mean they can, finger crossed

@BattleMonkey I would hope so. I have three subs in the house. £65+ a month is silly. They need to bring out that family plan.

@Kaloudz had the same but had to drop one because of this 👍

@Scrubchub My rog ally’s become my number 1 to be honest. It’s awesome! Use to love pc gaming back in the day & gameboys so these things are basically my dream come true.

I use pc gamepass which has only increased in price from £10-£13.49 so it’s not too bad to be honest, though I’ve been saving some games it cannot run for the console and unlimited this winter. I had a hunch I should sub sooner and play them and it wasn’t just a hunch as it’s now on costing me £7 extra each month on console.