Xbox Game Pass to Receive Price Increase and New Subscription Tier
Xbox Game Pass is getting some drastic changes in September.
Microsoft is about to overhaul its Xbox Game Pass subscription service once again and in the process will be raising the costs associated with the platform. At this point in time, Microsoft has four different Game Pass offerings that subscribers can choose from. Two of these are tied solely to consoles and PC and give members a catalog of games to play, while Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is an all-in-one subscription that extends across Xbox consoles and PC. The fourth option, Xbox Game Pass Core, is the newest of the bunch and is mainly needed to play games online, much like Xbox Live Gold previously was used for. Now, more changes are on the horizon, surely to the dismay of current subscribers.
Reported by Windows Central, details of this latest shift in how Xbox Game Pass operates were provided. To start, Xbox Game Pass is going to see its cost increase to $19.99 per month, which is a $3 price increase from where it's at now. Xbox Game Pass Core will then jump from $59.99 to $74.99 per year, while the monthly cost of this tier will remain at $9.99. Lastly, Game Pass for PC will then rise to $11.99 per month from its current $9.99 value. All of these tiers won't offer anything new but will continue to exist in their current form after the price hike hits on September 12, 2024.
Outside of this shift, Microsoft is going to make Xbox Game Pass for consoles unavailable to new subscribers starting in September. Instead, it will be replaced by a new tier called "Xbox Game Pass Standard" which will cost $14.99. This Standard tier will give subscribers access to all of the games that are part of Game Pass outside of those that are "Day One" additions to the service. So, for example, a title like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 would now be available on Game Pass Standard when it launches in October. Those currently subscribed to Xbox Game Pass for console, however, will be able to continue their membership and retain access to Day One releases.
Lastly, Microsoft has also noted that it will no longer allow Xbox Game Pass subscribers to stack their subscription for multiple years in advance. Previously, when Game Pass has gone on sale, some Xbox users have chosen to purchase many months of the service at once at a lower cost. Instead, Microsoft is set to discontinue this act and will only allow Game Pass to stack to a maximum of 13 months.
When it comes to the reason behind these moves, Microsoft is surely looking to milk more money out of Game Pass, especially in light of subscribers for the service plateauing. As mentioned, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is set to be the biggest Day One game to ever be released on Xbox Game Pass. With this in mind, Microsoft almost certainly wants to raise prices ahead of the launch of Black Ops 6 to ensure that this move is one that nets the company an even larger sum of money.
