Microsoft is overhauling its hugely successful game subscription service by overhauling one of its colossal gaming subscription services: it’s introducing new tiers to Xbox Game Pass and hiking prices. As part of a trend, the company is taking the lead as Netflix and Spotify, among other large services, have increased in price over the years.
The most striking change would be adding an Xbox Game Pass Standard tier, replacing the current Xbox Game Pass for Console for new customers. It will allow for hundreds of games in the library on console and multiplayer functionality but without day-one releases. Only subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and legacy Xbox Game Pass for Console would continue to get day-one releases.
According to Microsoft, most of its existing users are already on the Ultimate version, which bundles all of the above at a single price: access to its library of games across Xbox consoles, PC, and the cloud, in many cases with cross-save and cross-progression. That plan is still a good deal if you play enough games. But with prices going up, it’s time to reassess if you only play a few.
The new prices will prevail for all new subscribers from July 10, whereas in the case of everybody else, this would be a more pervasive change, effective September 12, 2024. For those who are already subscribers, their rates will be unchanged until those dates. Its new pricing for Australian subscribers reads as follows: Game Pass Core, AUD 89.95 for 12 months; Xbox Game Pass Standard, USD 14.99, price in AUD to be determined; PC Game Pass, AUD 13.95; and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, AUD 22.95. That is an increase of about $3-4 a month for most tiers. This marks the second major price hike within two years.
These changes are most likely to be influenced by a mix of both market conditions and Microsoft’s recent buyout of Activision Blizzard. With the gaming space reportedly changing, Microsoft looks positioned to make further changes to its subscription model.
For this, if users are thinking of discontinuing membership based on the changes introduced, they should turn off Auto Pay via Microsoft subscription settings. The details regarding the upcoming change can be derived from their FAQ page itself, which goes into more detail.
First up, some bottom line Страна: Big changes are coming to Xbox Game Pass, with new tiers and price increases. Of course, they might genuinely be more valuable for the dedicated player, and quite costly to the causal user who begins to rethink his subscription.