Xbox Game Pass subscribers, brace yourselves: a price hike is on the horizon for all tiers and platforms. Starting soon, the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase to $19.99 / £14.99 per month, and PC Game Pass will rise to $11.99 / £9.99. Additionally, Xbox Game Pass Core annual subscription will now cost $74.99 / £55.99. There's also a new "Standard" tier arriving in September for console, priced at $14.99 monthly, but it won’t include day-one game releases—those will be exclusive to the Ultimate tier. Interestingly, PC Game Pass retains its day-one release perks despite the price adjustment, potentially due to competitive pressures from Steam.
Why is Xbox Game Pass increasing its prices?The price hike for Xbox Game Pass could be due to multiple factors, including Microsoft's recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the need to maintain competitive offerings against platforms like Steam.
The context behind these changes is important to grasp. Xbox Game Pass launched in June 2017, offering gamers a subscription service to access a library of games across Xbox consoles and PC. It has been a significant part of Microsoft's strategy to attract and retain gamers, offering cost-effective access to a wide variety of games. The addition of new titles, cloud gaming options, and a tier-based system has helped to diversify its options for consumers. However, keeping up with industry trends, developer costs, and competitive pressures are just a few challenges that could have influenced these new pricing structures.
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Comments
Totally saw this coming with how much content Xbox Game Pass has been churning out lately, but it's a bit of a bummer for long-time subscribers. Still, if they keep packing in those day-one releases and high-quality titles, it might just be worth the extra coin.
It looks like Xbox Game Pass is feeling the competitive heat and balancing out their recent acquisitions with this price hike. While it's a bummer for subscribers, the expanded library and those sweet day-one releases on PC might just keep it worth the extra bucks.
The price hike for Xbox Game Pass is a bummer, but given the recent Activision Blizzard acquisition and the competitive push from Steam, it's not too surprising. Hopefully, the added value and perks, especially for the Ultimate tier, will justify the increased cost for gamers.