Microsoft is once again raising the price of its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription and rebranding a number of its Xbox Game Pass plans. Game Pass Ultimate used to cost $19.99 per month, but now it costs $29.99, a 50% increase. Microsoft is attempting to justify the price increase by making a number of enhancements to all Xbox Game Pass tiers.
Xbox Game Pass Core will now be called Xbox Game Pass Essential, and the Standard package will now be called Xbox Game Pass Premium.
Microsoft’s director of gaming and platform relations, Dustin Blackwell, told The Verge in a briefing that “bigger game libraries, including PC games across all of the plans, are what’s new for everyone across all three Xbox Game Pass plans.” “New to Essential and Premium subscribers is unlimited cloud gaming.”
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
The price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has unexpectedly increased from $19.99 to $29.99 per month. Microsoft increased the price of Game Pass Ultimate last year without improving the subscription; this time, though, it is improving the service in several ways. According to Blackwell, “[Game Pass Ultimate] will now give access to over 400 titles worldwide, including the majority of our partners who want to continue adding their upcoming games to Xbox Game Pass.”
Microsoft is adding 45 games to Game Pass Ultimate today alone, including many Assassin’s Creed titles, Hogwarts Legacy, and many more Ubisoft titles. Blackwell claims that “we’re also now giving access to more than 75 day one releases each year.” “That represents a 50% increase compared to the day one titles we offered last year.”
Ubisoft Plus Classics has been added to Game Pass Ultimate, a feature that provides access to a selection of Ubisoft games on console, PC, and cloud platforms. Furthermore, as of November 18th, Fortnite Crew will be a part of Ultimate, which entitles users to the Fortnite Battle Pass, 1,000 V-bucks every month, and other perks. Blackwell claims that “Ubisoft Plus Classics and Fortnite Crew together add roughly $28 a month in value to Ultimate subscribers.”
Furthermore, Xbox Cloud Gaming is coming out of beta and will support 1440p resolutions in addition to bitrate improvements for certain games on particular devices. These cloud enhancements are exclusive to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
Finally, Microsoft is updating its rewards program. Ultimate members can now earn up to $100 a year (100,000 points) in the store just by playing games.
Xbox Game Pass Premium
Game Pass Premium will cost $14.99 a month, the same as the current Standard membership, and will offer a wider selection of games. More than 200 games will be available on PC and Xbox, including Diablo IV and Hogwarts Legacy. Customers of Game Pass Premium will be able to play PC games for the first time.
Game Pass Premium offers the first-ever unlimited cloud access, allowing you to use Xbox Cloud Gaming without a Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Premium members will be able to stream games from the Game Pass library in addition to their own titles.
Even though Game Pass Premium won’t have access to the same games as Game Pass Ultimate on launch day, Microsoft has now stated that new Xbox-published games will be added “within a year of their launch.” Except for Call of Duty games, all other Xbox games owned by Microsoft will be available.
Furthermore, Microsoft is expanding the benefits of its in-game Game Pass beyond Ultimate to the Premium membership. Members will get in-game rewards in games such as League of Legends, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege X. Additionally, premium customers can earn up to $50 a year by playing games through Microsoft’s rewards program.
Essential Xbox Game Pass
Game Pass Essential, which will cost the same $9.99 per month as the current Core subscription, will have over 50 games in its library instead of the more than 25 that were available in Core. You can play any of these games on a PC or console, and you can even take advantage of unlimited cloud access, which was previously only available to those with Game Pass Ultimate.
Essential users will be able to stream a selection of their own titles in addition to accessing the in-game bonuses of Riot titles and earning up to $25 a year in the store through Microsoft’s revamped rewards program.
Price adjustments for PC Game Pass and more
Additionally, Microsoft is increasing the price of its PC Game Pass subscription today, increasing it by nearly 40% from $11.99 to $16.49 per month. Microsoft isn’t trying to justify this increase, though, by providing any additional PC gaming goodies.
According to Blackwell, “the only change for PC Game Pass subscribers is that they will receive roughly 50 more Ubisoft titles across PC Game Pass, but they won’t be receiving Ubisoft Plus Classics.” “Day one titles will continue to be awarded to it.”
With the addition of PC games to Xbox Game Pass Essential and Premium today, I get the feeling that Microsoft may eventually reevaluate its PC-only subscription and try to persuade users to move to its Essential, Premium, or Ultimate levels.
The Xbox Game Pass Essential and Premium tiers will not see price increases in the US today, but they will in certain regions. All existing Game Pass Core and Standard subscribers will automatically be able to access the Essential and Premium plans. Price changes begin today for new subscribers and the next payment cycle for existing Game Pass subscribers.
The price increases come after Microsoft spent more money on Game Pass promotions over the course of the previous 12 months. “In just the last year, we’ve made our biggest investment in Game Pass to date, signing agreements with over 150 partners to gradually grow the catalog,” says Blackwell.
Microsoft intends to increase the price of its Xbox systems in the US once more later this week, and the Xbox Series X is currently $150 more expensive than it was six months ago. Furthermore, the upcoming Xbox Ally X portable will retail for $999.99 in the US, according to recent announcements from Microsoft and Asus.
“We understand price increases are never fun for anybody, but we’re trying to reinforce by adding more value to these plans as well,” Blackwell says. “We don’t take it lightly, and by listening to their feedback, we’re trying to give players and the community more of what they’re asking for.”
