Microsoft is once again revising its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, and has re-jigged tiers and the benefits players can expect from the service moving forward, all in effect as of now.
The biggest (and most painful) change comes with the top-tier offering, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which will see a 50% price hike to $29.99 (€26.99), up from its previous $19.99 — and a third price rise in two years. Microsoft is seemingly looking to justify the new price with a variety of changes across all Game Pass tiers.
Along with the price rises, Microsoft has also renamed the lower tiers: Xbox Game Pass Core is now Essential, and the Standard plan is now Xbox Game Pass Premium. If that sounds familiar, they’re the same names as the lowest and highest tier of PlayStation Plus since a similar rebrand in 2022. Existing Core members have already moved to the new Essential tier, Standard users to Premium, and Ultimate subs will remain as they are.
With the “most expansive upgrade yet”, Ultimate subscribers will now have access to over 75 day one releases a year, as well as Fortnite Crew — an $11.99/month equivalent value — added to the service beginning on November 18. With it comes access to the Fortnite Battle Pass, 1,000 V-Bucks every month, and more.
Also included will be Ubisoft+ Classics, which current subscribers can sink their teeth into right now, and cloud gaming will also see a huge boon with streaming quality up to 1440p and the shortest wait times. Finally, Microsoft are reworking the rewards program and Ultimate subscribers get the best there as well, being able to earn up to $100 (100,000 points) per year simply by playing games.
Xbox Game Pass Essential and Premium will remain at their current prices of $9.99 (€8.99) and $14.99 (€12.99), respectively but will reap additional benefits. Essential and Premium users will now enjoy access to more than 50 games in the library — 200 for Premium — and will be able to play all titles on PC or console.
There will also now be unlimited access to cloud gaming, a privilege previously reserved for Ultimate subscribers, though the wait times will be longer. Users will also be able to stream select games already owned, as well as in-game benefits from Riot Games and earn up to $25 and $50 a year in the store.
Curiously, the official announcement makes no mention of any changes to the PC Game Pass tier, which has led to speculation it was being discontinued. Gladly, that isn’t the case, however it too will see a price hike: an almost 40% increase, going up from $11.99 to $16.49 (€14.99), though the Redmond software giant doesn’t appear to have shared a rationale for this price hike.
The news of price rises for gaming services coming off the back of major job cuts, which may well have seen the end of the Forza Motorsport series, will be a tough pill to swallow for many gamers. Let us know what you think in the comments.
See more articles on Xbox Game Pass.
