Xbox Game Pass Premium May Be The Best-Value Tier Right Now, With Almost 50 Games Added

No... but since my comment can't be that short. NO!!!

Hey, $14.99. I recognize that number, that's what my Ultimate sub cost only 2 years ago in June 2023.

I just dropped all subscriptions altogether this year. Not gonna lie, it's been pretty great.

Nah I’m good. Sub lapses mid November and I think I have enough reward points to sub another month to play COD through to Xmas which is usually when I start to get bored of it anyway. After that I’m done with the brand. The small amount of first party games I can’t live without like Forza Horizon 6 I can buy on Steam or PS5.

Not gonna lie, my Gamepass days are numbered as it expires the day after Christmas. So long GP, thanks for all the memories.

Just to clarify COD will stay on Ultimate only untill it's over a year old when it's replaced by the latest version? Or does none of the older COD go on to the lower tier.

Article has the same energy as '£60 for 15-20 year old games is good value' over on NL.

Didn't wash there. Doesn't wash here.

@FraserG There's no way in heck they're paying $10 for ubisoft games per user, but I think it's marketing to get people to swallow the price increase.

My take on this is that they want to remove day 1 games from game pass, as Sony has said very publicly that it's not a sustainable model. I hate Sony, but I believe them on this. The problem is, MS can't remove day 1 games as it has been their entire selling point of the service. So what we have here is a soft removal of day 1 games. Here's what the timeline looks like in my head

Summer 2023: price hike

Summer 2024: price hike and remove day 1 games from standard

End of Summer 2025: insane price hike, making standard cost what ultimate does.

So now, day 1 games aren't really "game pass ultimate" by the traditional sense, are they? GPU was $14.99 for years, and you got day 1 games.

It's easier to think about it without the names (WHICH IS VERY MUCH INTENTIONAL BY THESE ***HOLES):

If you were a $10~ subscriber, you never really got day 1 games (going back to gold)
If you were a $15~ subscriber, they just took away your day 1 games. Mission accomplished
In order to stop the much bigger riot that would have ensued if they removed day 1 games entirely, there's a new subscription tier. $30 will get you day 1 games. This obscene price is sustainable. I bet even Sony would agree to that.

It is. First thing I noticed is about 85% of the games I play on GP are now in premium. A lot of give and take here. Can be utilized as a 5 dollars off discount or a 9 dollar increase depending on which way you choose

I'm worried about PX staff as MS basically nuking the brand they are reporting on is no fault of their own. Hopefully the gaming world grows elsewhere and everybody ends up being fine after a little bit of in office rebalance.

@FraserG it's to artificially increase the value. "sure, you're paying more, but look at all this extra stuff we're giving you that you didn't ask for!".

Worryingly, it's the same sort of principle that live service games, specifically micro transactions take when they sell bundled packs. Put the one or two things people want in the bundle, then add their premium currency, extra stickers or whatever tat they can that nobody wants and inflate the value. (Bonus points for them if they put some of the tat content up for sale with silly price tags too so people can believe they're getting a perceived "bargain").

We all knew the price hike was coming, I guess just before the handheld device launches is as good a time as any for MS to lock in those gamers. But at twice the price of the Premium tier it really is hard to justify Ultimate, let alone even consider it unless you just have to have your games day one. (or if you're a big fan of the games that get the "bonus" content... Fortnite Club for example).

I might just let my subscription lapse this time around and just pick it up here and there for certain releases. I've been feeling the same way about PS Plus (currently on Extra) too tbh.

@FraserG At the bare minimum, they could have bumped the price of Ultimate up to $25 and made a separate tier called Ultimate Plus that includes all the extra content, like Fortnite and Ubisoft Classics. People would have still been pissed but at least that way, it wouldn't have been as bad.

I could've sworn i had GPU until February 2027 now it says July 2026.......

The best deal is Ultimate: the conversion ratio was 50% until now for Core/Essential whose price has not changed and the conversion ratio is 40% now. Granted, you need your Ultimate subscription to expire and then subscribe to Essential and upgrade, but it's something you just need to do once every three years.

By the way, this article isn't me justifying Xbox's GPU price hike...
I'm merely saying that with that in mind, Premium is looking like an attractive option, and the tier has been tightened up a good chunk since it was introduced as Standard - loads of games added, clarity on when Xbox exclusives go in the library etc.

@LeonR They haven't fully clarified that. MS has basically said that everything other than COD moves to Premium within a year, and have left the door open for COD.
It could be just after a year, it could be whenever they feel like it. My guess would be the latter.

@FraserG I personally think the smarter alternative would have been to just add an additional tier rather than enforce additions that folks may not want. I have to say though, the addition of Fortnite Crew is a smart move.

I've said it time and time again, but I honestly do not believe that Game Pass is profitable. Microsoft were either speaking with a forked-tongue when they said it was, or flat out being disingenuous (lying to you and me).

Microsoft cannot have it both ways, either the service was profitable, and they are now being callous and greedy with this price hike of 50%+, or they were speaking untruths when they said Game Pass was profitable.

My honest view is that the service was / is not making a profit, and that this huge price increase will see a massive decline in the number of people that subscribe, which will in turn mean the service will struggle to make a profit. Whether sufficient people remain subscribed, and paying this massive hike to offset the loses that stems from people quitting the service is another question. Personally, I doubt it will, and I can see the service having huge problems over the next 12-24 months.

I've said a number of times that I think Game Pass will not exist in its current form 3 years following the release of the PCBox. I've long thought that the service will become a first-party only service that will then be allowed to go on the PlayStation. Indeed, I also think that the who Play Anywhere notion that Microsoft are pushing is partly with the end of Game Pass in mind.

Honestly, I think the only thing that Microsoft can do now to stem the exodus of gamers from Game Pass, is to put an end to day one first party titles on the service. They need those sales, and to some extent, pricing people out of Ultimate, may help with that aspect, but it will come at the expense of Game Pass subscriber numbers, which will massively impact how much money the service has coming in.

I think Microsoft have made a gamble too far with this more. Either that, or it is intentionally sabotaging Ultimate so that they can do away with the day one first-party games...

@FraserG I think its a BIG mistake with their Xbox branded Handheld PC launching and of course the growing market of Handheld PC's and cloud streaming devices.

The price hike is more likely to push people out of the Subscription/tier they were in and even push peopple away from their Ecosystem. Why buy CoD for $70 when it costs $10 every month on Essential to play it - buy from Steam instead. $360 a year is a LOT extra for very little in return and other Platforms - PS+ Premium looks better value now than GP Premium (let alone Ultimate) so what 'incentive' are MS giving to their Customers to Subscribe or buy games in their Ecosystem?

75 games Day 1 sounds a lot, but not when 65 of them are indies, and the rest are a mix of average AAA games that may not all appeal or be worth playing Day 1 anyway. It wasn't that long ago the Prices jumped up to $20 so to jump up 50% again so soon, along with all the other price hikes and fact that most Standard AAA games are so 'bare bones' - like they Cut content to sell Premium/Gold/Complete editions and sell 'Game Pass Upgrades' to get the 'full' game, it just seems WRONG!

How much is Satya Nadella on, how much of a Pay Rise will he get? You could save a LOT of money by cutting his salary completely. It just feels 'greedy' by dressing it up as giving you maybe a little 'more' but taking a LOT more in return...

Until now, I had Ultimate and rarely bought games.

Now I'll continue with Ultimate, but I don't think I'll buy any more games on Xbox.

I'm still on Xbox because I have no other choice. I'm “held hostage” on Xbox. My entire gaming life is here: my profile, my achievements... But if I had the chance to export all this to Steam or PlayStation, I'd leave and never come back.

I am undecided if I will be downgrading to premium or essential at the moment. Purely from a functional standpoint all I really need is online access and everything beyond that is a bonus.

I just need to decide which (if any) of the bonuses are worth it to me or just go for bare minimum. Luckily I don't need to decide right now so I will let the dust settle and properly evaluate my options.

Im out unfortunately. First time since I bought my S that I wont have GP. Time to start buying games on sale.

Should point out here 28 of those listed are PC only.

So that tempers the value on console.

I have literally never played Fortnite in my life and don't plan to ever!!
I don't really like Ubisoft games either so I'm not going to stick with ultimate anymore it's still showing up as the old price for my renewal so once it stays like that I'll keep it I'm sure it will get updated before the charge.
I have a huge backlog of quality games to play so I'm not to bummed about this I have loads to play I'm not dependent on gamepass but the ultimate is just not value for money for me no more!
See how this works out hopefully enough say no to this bs and they are forced to change things!

That said before my sub gets upped I'm going to try complete assassin's creed unity and ezio collection old school creed games are great 👏✌️

@BAMozzy Good to see you finally hold Microsoft to account for doing something crap. It’s only taken several console and sub price hikes, tens of thousands of layoffs and several FTC lies but you seem to finally be seeing Microsoft for who they actually are….a scummy company who could not give a %^#* about their user base, only profits.

@Kaloudz I don't even know what a Fortnite Crew is

@FraserG yeah absolutely. And I believe, many users will quit Ultimate now.

@Nintendo4Sonic They will see a huge drop in the Game Pass section - panic and try to damage control everything

I have already preemptively switched to Premium ahead of my ultimate expiring late this month. I am still considering switching to just PC gamepass so i can keep playing day 1 releases. I mostly play on pc but it was nice to be able to pickup the same save in the living room on the Series x or on the floating series s with xscreen.

Gamepass Ultimate at $20 was the thing keeping xbox consoles appealing as my number 2 choice of platform.

The theory seems to be to stuff Ultimate with as many perks as possible so they can charge a lot for it. On paper, adding roughly $20 worth of subscriptions and "only" increasing the price $10 seems like a deal. I just dont see who would want all of the ultimate perks or enough of them to pay $360 per year for them.

Nah dude.

Gamepass is done for me now.

@FraserG For me it's because they want to raise the price anyway. The additions are just smoke & mirrors to make it look like a good deal and not have people realise that it was always about the price increase.

Steam seasonal sales are the official "best deal in gaming." Key retailers are the unofficial "best deal in gaming." Xbox can no longer lay claim to this.

@GeeEssEff There is a difference between blaming MS for doing what EVERYONE else was having to do because they were all rising prices, cancelling games, shutting studio's and firing staff - not being 'blinkered' to think its ONLY Microsoft doing something - that they are the ONLY Scummy company who are only focussed on the Money they can extract.

But when they become worse than others, Sony may yet raise their Prices too now and we know they've raised prices on hardware and/or reduced the 'quality/spec' of the Hardware and/or really can't 'justify' their actions, that's where I draw the line.

$20 and the refresh of Game Pass, raising of Hardware prices in the current Economic climate (Consoles are not exempt from Tariffs and that impacts the materials/parts imported to make them, increased shipping/distribution costs etc) and 'restructuring' especially after acquiring 2 very similar businesses each with their own Publishing, Marketing, PR, HR, Management structure etc that all do the SAME Job, then Rationalising makes sense - it always happens within several years usually - depending on how long they were 'protected' for on take-over. Everything else - even the $1k for the Xbox Ally X, which is still cheaper than ALL equivalent hardware specced Handhelds is somewhat justifiable because of looking at things Holistically.

I don't just defend Xbox when it comes to somethings - I do for Sony too and PC gaming where applicable, Nintendo not so much because I haven't owned one for a good few years - but I will also criticise if I cannot see a 'justifiable' reason to have done what they did. I hate that Perfect Dark got cancelled, but after 7yrs and still 'no' clear end date, I'd think I'd cancel and make sure the games that are on track, stay on track, same with Everwild that's gone 'nowhere' since its reveal - Contraband too so they 'make sense' holistically - with 'rising' costs for EVERYONE inc keeping the lights on at Studios.

You have to work to your 'budget' of incomings too and now they are expecting the Customers to increase their contributions but without giving 'enough' to Justify it. Arguably the 'cost' of Fortnite and Ubisoft+ is more than the price hike, but I bet if they'd done their 'research' as they claim, they should have kept those out and kept the price the same. Ubisoft+ I guess does add 'some' small value to everyone as I'm sure they have some games you may play (or already have) but Fortnite is NOT for 'everyone' so why make everyone pay that much extra for it? Maybe offer Fortnite with a Game Pass Ultimate members discount as a perk to get it cheaper per month, but to add it for everyone and increase the price isn't justifiable....

@BAMozzy there’s the Bamozzy I know and love. Blinkered obsession.

@GeeEssEff If you had read, you'd have seen that's completely the opposite - but then I expect nothing less from you...

@FraserG I don't think the features were "forced on us for a fee" but instead they scrambled to find some features to make the price they had pre-determined feel less terrible.

"We doubled the price of your burgers but now they also have pickles! We can remove the pickles but the price still is double."

BTW does PC gamepass keeps day 1 and CoD games?

Yeah. Personally I use GP 95% for indie games. Don’t care about MS first party or CoD or EA. So if indies come to Premium day 1 that works for me.

Edit: I doubt most of the good ones will after seeing which games didn't move to Premium

I am completely lost in the middle.
I DO want to play the games on release , but to have an Ultimate subscription just for that just does not feel right. It’s nice that they add Ubisoft+ but out of the X amount of games added today , only 8/9 of them show up as new / not played for me. Cloud gaming is so not my thing and I am pretty sure as long as there are consoles that play games natively , I will stay away from cloud gaming when I can.

@Tdx

Personally I use GP 95% for indie games

You might want to do the math there because I'm nearly sure most indie games will cost less than the monthly subscription, unless you are a VERY active and proliferous gamer.

@BAMozzy Even if they offer say Game Pass Ultimate, with Day 1 games & Ubi for £20

Or if you don't want Ubi, buy Game Pass with no Day 1 and Include the Fortinite stuff for £15

@Leuke I dropped PS+ earlier this year after having it since the PS3 days. Don't miss it. Trying to decide if I want premium or essential for GamePass. Ultimate is insane

@Gabrie fortunately I don't care about achievements and my profile was only created to be able to play so can move anywhere anytime 😅

I knew Day 1 releases were too good to be true. They continue to be dumb though...by telling us that their games will arrive a year later, patient gamers will simply wait it out and play them then instead of paying the extra price MS are demanding now.

Drop EA play, Ubisoft classics, and that Fortnite thing a give me day one releases for $20

@FraserG More importantly I must ask, why did game pass have be pushed on us at all?

Xbox Live had less issues, minimum price increases, better deals for yearly subscription (which game pass still has none, even to this day), less controversy, less confusion due multiple tiers, etc.

It wasn't broken. Microsoft did not have fix it. Been extremely disappointed with game pass since the beginning with it being forced on us.

@BAMozzy I’ve always said I will admit when I’m wrong and apologise. I actually properly read what you wrote and it wasn’t blinkered obsession so im sorry for saying that. Genuine question though, has this made you rethink the Ally X preorder or at least made you consider starting to use Steam? I don’t see the point of spending £800 on a marginal upgrade when you only buy into the Xbox ecosystem which is now getting more expensive.

Whilst I think that the above poll has value, @Kezelpaso & @FraserG, and it does tell it's own story, might I respectfully suggest a poll that asks the following?:

1. Will you be remaining on your current tier?
2. Will you be moving to a lower tier?
3. Will you be quitting Game Pass altogether?
4. I don't have Game Pass, and I don't intend to join now.

I think that may give a better overview the strength of feeling and how we, as gamers, are likely to react to these price increases...

I'm subscribed to ultimate through my mobile contract so I'm tied in until mid 2027. I'll re-assess what's best for me then.

For now, I'm just going to enjoy what I have.

(Although there's not much gaming going on for me at the moment, just not feeling it 😐)

@GeeEssEff Not at all - the fact that its still a full PC and not a SteamOS limited device, has a lot more power under the hood for better gamingg performance, and an upgrade over my OG RoG Ally, I see no reason to cancel.

It just means that maybe I won't be using Game Pass Ultimate for Day 1 - but I still need at least Game Pass Essential on Xbox to keep playing all those games I already own and I still own quite a few Play Anywhere games too. It just means that maybe I won't buy my PC games on Microsoft - maybe Steam, Epic, GoG etc instead.

The controller layout is still the most ergonomic as its designed to feel like an Xbox controller in hand - not a 70% scaled down version or designed for thinness over ergonomics like other Handhelds.

Just because it has the Xbox branding and built in collab with MS, its still just a PC in a Handheld form - like buying a Laptop or Desktop Gaming PC to escape the Console traps and charges. When the Hardware and services were 'cheap' - even if software was more expensive and/or behind a sub paywall - it still worked out to be an affordable way to game. But £600+ consoles, mininmum of £7 a month just to play socially and expensive Software, Moving over to the PC entirelydoesn't mean just Steam - and it would include the Windows/Xbox store, just like Battlenet or Betheda.net would be options if they represent the 'best' value at the time - but otherwise, there are a lot of other options.

It just depends on whether I want or willing to go all in on PC or still keep the Consoles (PS & Xbox) for big screen gaming long term. That may also influence where I buy some games because if I want to play on BOTH my Series X and PC, Microsoft store is the only store to offer that but that's no different from deciding whether to buy on Xbox or Playstation - which can be easy if one has extras or is cheaper

I have nothing against 'Steam' as a Platform on a PC, I don't see it any different from any other of the PC options. I just do NOT want SteamOS or a Steamdeck. My RoG Ally is better than a Steamdeck - although at similar 'low' power to a Steamdeck, the performance is comparable - but boost it to 25w and it beats Steamdeck. Steamdeck has big issues with TPM secure boot - so CoD:BO7 and BF6 will be an issue as it relies on Windows!!

Not being blinkered or fanboy over MS, but games from ALL Publishers are built for 'Windows PC', not SteamOS and Steam has to try and 'emulate' Windows - necessary when it grinds a Steamdeck as it hasn't got the power to run both Windows and a Game.

@BAMozzy I think “better” is subjective but if power is what your after yep you may as well keep your pre order. Steam is my go to on PC. Only thing that would interest me in the Xbox ally is the ergonomics and I don’t fancy paying a massive surplus for that. I have about 4 digital games in my Xbox library and none of them are play anywhere. Every single AAA game I have bought this year I have checked to see if it is play anywhere before buying so I could use Xbox and PC but they aren’t so I’ve bought them on Steam where every game is play anywhere. I have no intention of continuing subbing to GPU so with a library of over 100 games, most of which I can play on the deck it suits my needs perfectly.

@FraserG Because of corporate greed, my friend. Because there is this myth that you can grow your profits infinitely and that causes the already ultra wealthy to make some out of touch decisions.

@GeeEssEff If Steam and Steamdeck works for you - great but as you need 'windows' for TPM Secure Boot, games like Battlefield 6 and CoD may not work on SteamOS and because I do have a 'few' PC games - not just Play Anywhere titles, but I got a few games free with buying Laptops in the past - Dying Light for example on Steam, but never installed/played it.

At the moment, 98% of my gaming is currently on a Console and both PS and Xbox require an 'Essential' tier Sub to play most of the games I play. So even if I do cancel Ultimate and drop down to Premium or Essential, Game Pass is still usable on my PC too. Yes it maybe a much smaller Library and no Day 1, but its still gives me some options to play at NO extra cost.

Of course, I may embrace Steam more in the future and find myself gaming more on my Laptop or even investing in a decent gaming PC I can plug into my TV - leave the Consoles at this 'gen'. I still have all my games and hardware from at least the last 2 gens of Playstation & Xbox.

However, up untill now, I've only used my Laptop and Ally to play Game Pass games when I can't access my TV/Console rather than PC be my 'main/first' choice. With Xbox and Sony releasing their first Party games there more frequently, I don't know that I want 'both' Consoles again and both Subscription just to play with friends like I have for the past 30yrs or so...

@BAMozzy I’m not majorly interested in Cod or battlefield and even less interested in playing them on a handheld…they certainly wouldn’t be the make or break in my decision to by a device. My Steamdeck is predominantly an Indie machine but it does surprisingly well with games like Ass Creed shadows, KCD2 and BG3. Also I love the track pads which are great for anything more traditionally PC which is why if I opted for more power my first choice would be a legion go. Genuinely hope you enjoy your new ally though, it looks cool and if I had way more disposable income I would probably get it.

@Vipor007 It's some sort of monthly subscription for Fortnite that gives you VBucks and other perks.

@GeeEssEff I can't deny that if things hadn't evolved as they have, I perhaps would have been interested in a Steamdeck or at least the next one. I do prefer it to a Switch/Switch 2 but then Handheld PC's released and I bought the RoG Ally.

I have some reservations over the Legion Go 2 - although its controller scheme seems well thought out for more than 'just' gaming and the 8.8" OLED is incredible, but I expect more power hungry than a 7" LED and it does have a slightly smaller Battery. It has more RAM, but doesn't have the AI NPU and I think the detachable nature of the Controllers looks somewhat clunky. Its also heavier and more Expensive

I also considered the GPD Win5 Strix Halo but too many 'compromises' for all that Hardware Power to be as convenient in one product.

My main issue with a LOT of Handhelds is that they have TINY controls - at least feel tiny to me and very cramped together so I find them awkward/uncomfortable for anything other than 'simple' games like Racing (just accelerate/Brake and steering) for example. So for me, the Xbox Ally X makes sense - its an upgrade over my Ally and that screen was great, more battery and RAM, plus the upgraded Hardware and OS - although that OS will come to more devices in the future.

I play a lot of FPS games as well as 3rd Person Action Adventure games - I want to be able to play Doom, Wolfenstein, CoD - maybe not BF on that small a screen with the 'big' maps, but even Valorant requires TPM secure boot. When I hear that games won't run on a Steamdeck because the games are built for Windows based PC's, doesn't always play well with Direct Storage and other 'issues', it does put me off. Part of the reason I want a 'Windows' Handheld is because its not 'locked' to a single platform, that 'some' games are already playable so I don't need to buy 'more' games or duplicate versions just for a Handheld I may use up to an hour or two a week - something I can switch on, play the games I want to play and then carry on playing on the TV after...

Steamdeck is a great device, but its also not what I want or need and won't let me play 'everything' I want to play or currently am playing. Even if I do cancel Ultimate, I'll still need 'Game Pass' to play games like CoD, BF6, FH6 etc on my Xbox so I might 'buy' games on Xbox because they give me a PC version too (or vice versa)

@BAMozzy Fair mate. Different devices for different needs. I would wholeheartedly recommend dipping your toes into steam a bit more though. I’d only dabbled with Steam before I got the deck in 2024 and it’s half the reason I have gone full PC in 2025. Ridiculously good prices, workshop is awesome, super consumer friendly, great community features, it has more support from CDkeys, humble and fanatical than anything else and it has the most choice in games by a country mile. I wouldn’t have called myself a PS, Xbox or Nintendo fanboy but I will proudly hold my hands up and say I’m a Steam fanboy. They treat their customers right although GoG is also awesome.

I'll go for premium, otherwise i can buy games what i want 😁

My game pass expired a few days ago and i had just been getting into avowed, now I'm definitely just not going to get game pass anymore.

We didnt want all the extra garbage they added. We either own the games already or they're trash. I'll just use my xbox for single player physical games for now, and just use my ps5 for online games and their catalog...

@FraserG I'm with you. Why not make it an add on for any tier based on user preference? IMO that would have been a win-win and not generate so much negative press. (All the pearl clothing not withstanding.... Lol)