Just hours after new changes and price increases for Xbox Game Pass were announced, players began attempting to cancel their subscriptions en masse, causing the Game Pass subscription cancellation page to become overloaded and get stuck sending errors to users. Xbox Game Pass has been praised for its inclusion of numerous titles, including day-one launches that let players enjoy brand-new games without having to pay for each download, but massive backlash over the latest price hikes and other alterations has already crashed cancellation services.
Each of the tiers for Xbox Game Pass feature an extensive library of games with monthly updates and exclusive titles, giving subscribers a high value for the arguably reasonable monthly or annual fees. However, Microsoft has once again raised the price for each of these tiers, and fans are not happy with the increased charges.
New Xbox Game Pass Subscription Tiers
- Essential Plan ($9.99/month)
- Premium Plan ($14.99/month)
- Ultimate Plan ($29.99/month)
Announced via an official update on Xbox Wire, the Core and Standard plans for Xbox Game Pass will be changed to Essential and Premium, respectively, and will retain their current pricing. However, the Ultimate plan will be getting a 50% price increase, jumping from $19.99 a month to $29.99 monthly. The Microsoft PC Game Pass subscription is also going up in price, with an increase from $11.99 to $16.49 a month. Existing Core and Standard plan subscribers will be automatically transferred to the newly named Essential and Premium tiers, but Ultimate users will not see any changes, besides the new monthly fee. Essential gets access to over 50 games a month, while Premium subscribers can choose from over 200 games, and Ultimate plan members get a catalog of 400+ titles plus over 75 day-one launches annually.
Audiences have already calculated the new total cost per year, with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan now clocking in at $360. While the playable library is massive and day-one launches are a key benefit, many believe that the average subscriber simply does not have enough time to be able to play an acceptable number of games to justify the huge investment. Others pointed out that simply buying games full price may end up being cheaper than the updated annual cost of the Ultimate plan. It remains to be seen if the mass subscription cancellation attempts by Xbox Game Pass users will have any effect on future price changes, but many are already fearing further price hikes in the future, though this is speculative.
The rising cost of video games has been a hot button issue within the gaming industry for several years, with newer Nintendo Switch 2 title launch prices and expected costs for massive games like Grand Theft Auto 6 leaving many weary of how affordable and accessible gaming will be in the coming years. Interested fans can stay tuned for any updates on Xbox Game Pass pricing and other changes to video game subscription services.
