Microsoft really loves its price increases. To match up with the growing costs of Xbox hardware, Game Pass is now about to be pricier than ever, too.
Prices are increasing in the gaming industry. That's not news. But Microsoft announced today that Game Pass Ultimate is now clocking in at a whopping $30 a month, or $360 a year for the game-streaming service. It's adding new perks like Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ to try to entice you, but man, that's a lot of money.
The entire entertainment industry's move to streaming services has gotten so costly. Just about every other service like Netflix, Disney Plus, Apple TV+, and services of that ilk have recently gone up in price, and so of course Xbox follows suit with its own. Meanwhile, the Xbox Series X hardware also just jumped to $800, so it's been a rough month.
Starting today, Game Pass's models are all changing from Core, Standard, and Ultimate, to the new titles of Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Essential replaces Core at $9.99 a month, while Premium seems to be the new Standard at $14.99 a month.
But Ultimate is jumping in price from $19.99 to $29.99 per month, with Microsoft trying to justify the increase with the handful of new additions. Is it worth it? That's for individual gamers to decide. The ability to play new games on day one as part of the service is still great, but at $360 a year, I feel like I might just prefer being selective with the games I purchase and then actually own them instead of losing access to them at any given time as part of the service.
The infographic below explains it, but the long and short of it is that Game Pass Ultimate now costs 50 percent more money than before at a time when everything else in the world is seemingly also increasing in price—other than most consumers' individual income, that is.
I used to think Game Pass was an amazing value, and then I used the service and realized there's only so much time in the day to play the 400-plus games on offer. I've subscribed and unsubscribed multiple times depending on the hot new release at the time, but never find myself sticking around for long.
I wonder how many gamers will continue to shell out the $30 a month for this service, and how many will say "enough is enough" and cancel their subscriptions either out of boycott or necessity. Judging by the social media replies in a post where Xbox attempted to spin the change as a positive, players are not falling for it.
If you're someone who hops from game to game and doesn't like to invest a ton of time into any one title, I guess Game Pass is still decent value? For $30 a month, or basically a dollar a day, I feel like it's going to be a tough sell for most. But either way, the "good will" that the service had at its inception seems to be rapidly fading.
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