A Sudden and Steep Increase
All right, there’s no beating around the bush here with this video, people. Xbox Game Pass just got a whole lot more expensive. If you missed the news, what you need to know is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s price has increased by a whopping 50%. It was $20 a month, now it is 30 US dollars a month. That’s a $10 increase. And PC Game Pass has also gone up in price, going from 12 bucks a month to $16 and 50 cents. Smaller, but still, when you look at the percentage, it’s a 28% price increase.
Now, leading up to this news, there were rumors and speculation floating around about potential price increases, but this is so much worse than anyone could have anticipated. It’s a big jump. The prevailing rumor that we were hearing before the announcement was that Game Pass Ultimate was gonna get a $5 price increase from 20 bucks to 25. But again, the reality is so much worse. This is a 50% increase for the top tier subscription.
Value Proposition in Question
So now with the price increasing so dramatically and honestly, so suddenly, the entire value proposition gets more complicated for the consumer. Just about a month ago, we posted a video about Game Pass in 2025, just evaluating it as a subscription, and we concluded that it was still a pretty decent value for what you were getting. But with this big, massive price hike kind of out of nowhere, I think our conclusions in that video are far murkier now.
Look, for a lot of Xbox gamers, this might be the last straw. Usually when we see these kind of, you know, steep price increases on services like Netflix or Spotify or Disney+ or whatever, everybody grumbles about it, but we keep on subscribing. I mean that in the abstract. You know, I know people do actually quit these things when the prices hit the balking point, but overall, the increase in prices doesn’t seem to dramatically affect the subscriber numbers in the long term.
That was also the case for the previous Game Pass price bumps, but this time, the increase is so sudden and so large, even longtime fans, if you look online, it seems like they’re fed up. The situation is so bad that the website to cancel Xbox Game Pass subscription, like through Microsoft, was actually getting overloaded yesterday and was constantly going down and throwing up errors. So that might say something is amiss.
What’s Changing in Game Pass?
So what the hell is going on with Game Pass? The word of the day is “price hike” and you’re gonna be hearing about that a lot. So let’s dive into it.
So once you get past the initial shock of $30 in the US for Game Pass Ultimate, what is actually changing here? ‘Cause Xbox is adding some value to the service, emphasis on “some”, almost definitely not worth tacking on $10 to the price’s best subscription, but it’s not like they’re raising the price and doing completely nothing.
So what’s changing is that Game Pass Ultimate is getting 45 more games that include access to Ubisoft+ Classics. What does that include? Well, a whole lot of old “Assassins Creed” games you can normally get for a few bucks because they’re constantly on sale. Seriously, these are the games Microsoft feels is worth, you know, this big subscription increase. “Assassin’s Creed II,” “Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag,” “Assassin’s Creed Syndicate,” “Assassin Creed: The Ezio Collection,” the list goes on. There’s “Assassin’s Creed Chronicles,” China, India, and Russia as a treat.
Look, I love those games, okay? Like I am not gonna dunk on my babies here, but like I said, you could probably get most of these things for less than 30 bucks combined if you’re a savvy purchaser. These are not expensive or difficult games to get. At least there are a few actual noteworthy games here, like a more recent, newer game like “Hogwarts Legacy,” another one that is also constantly on sale, but still. Few other good titles like “Hades” and “Cities: Skylines” and “Warhammer 40K: Darktide.”
Renamed Tiers and New Additions
The prices on previous tiers remain the same and they’ve just been renamed, again. So Core is now called Essential and still costs $10 a month and Game Pass Standard is now Premium and that’s $15 a month. So if you just use those services, the price hasn’t changed. It’s only for people using Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass that are feeling the squeeze right now.
Now, to be fair, Premium got some new games in October too and there’s some good stuff here like “Frostpunk 2,” “Manor Lords,” “Mullet MadJack” is a fun weird one. Look, there’s some interesting stuff there if you dive in.
So Ultimate is getting a few Ubisoft games, and I don’t wanna be too glib here, it’s not all “Assassin’s Creed” games. There is more recent, noteworthy stuff here like “Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown,” which I loved. But you know what is interesting that is absent? Something big, like something good, something worthy of subscription, like a newer game like “Assassin’s Creed Shadows.” Pretty much everything else is there, but the newest game, I guess is just too good for a $30 subscription.
But wait, that’s not all you get with Game Pass Ultimate now. You also get access to “Fortnite Crew” services. I guess they have to at least attempt to justify themselves here to people who only subscribe for “Fortnite.” There’s that and some upgraded access to Microsoft’s cloud gaming services with 2K resolution support and improved bit rates on compatible devices.
They’re also promising even more Xbox Originals will be day one on Game Pass, which is kind of vague, but they are at least promising that basically, every noteworthy upcoming game from Xbox Studios like “Outer Worlds 2” will be a day one Game Pass game if you’re on Ultimate.
PC Game Pass: Less Value, Higher Cost
PC Game Pass users, on the other hand, are just eating it from both ends. The price on PC Game Pass, like we said, is going up $4 and 50 cents and you don’t even get the Ubisoft+ library. Instead, PC players get around 50 Ubisoft titles, which are part of the Ubisoft+ deal, but not all. And at least you still get day one games.
So basically you’re getting a big load of Ubisoft’s back catalog and nothing else, and it’s gonna cost an extra four bucks plus change a month for the privilege. At least the 16.49 price point remains somewhat in the vein of reality for some people for a monthly fee. It’s not a completely terrible deal considering what you’re getting, but with Game Pass Ultimate, it’s now going to cost around $360 a year. Yes, 360. Was that intentional? I don’t know, but it equates to around five full price, $70 US games.
Is Xbox Pushing Game Sales Again?
You know, a season of a TV show can be finished in a few hours if you’re crazy, and it’s a passive activity. But a single game can take five or 10 times longer to finish and requires active investment, which can be difficult for people to muster. That’s why the price needs to be relatively low for this thing to be sustainable. The whole point here is that Game Pass needs to be the best deal in gaming. If it’s not “the best deal in gaming,” quote unquote, then what’s the point?
Other than the Xbox Game Studios games, like it’s not really getting as many exclusive games and content like other subscription services, right? Like you can only watch “Wednesday” or that weird “Resident Evil” live action show that nobody remembers on Netflix or “The Gray Man,” the most memorable movie ever made. But Game Pass, you can buy and play these games anywhere on systems that people are still accustomed to buying games on.
The appeal is that Game Pass is a cheaper alternative, but five $70 games a year, it’s a big ask and makes me wonder if Xbox is trying in some way to push people back into purchasing games again on the platform. Are we some sort of like, reverse gaslighting? I don’t know, I’m crazy.
But look, they already walked back the $80 games. “Outer Worlds 2” was originally going to launch at 80 US dollars and everyone complained and they reversed course. Maybe they want to push sales on games again, or at least try to hit more of a balance between game sales and their subscription service. Or maybe the Ultimate price increase is in response to them backing down from $80 games. They can’t extract additional value from game sales. So they’ll do it with their subscription service.
Consumer Confidence and Long-Term Impact
With so many Xbox faithfuls now seemingly canceling their subscriptions. You know, you go on Reddit, you go on X, you go on wherever and just do a search. I’m not sure how well it will work, but you’ve gotta imagine that Xbox did the math, they ran the numbers and they believe that the increase in revenue will offset the loss of subscribers, right? Like they do have probably armies of number guys that probably predicted some people canceling their subscription.
It’s just too big of a jump for a lot of people, when you have a monthly budget. Them anticipating this, It’s possible, but it also could just be that it’s just the Xbox division chasing short-term revenue at the expense of the long term, which seems to be a running theme for them.
But look, it depends on who you ask, because honestly, the Xbox brand has been murky lately. It’s been really interesting to talk about because the console price hikes meant that the exact same systems we bought in 2020 are now more expensive in 2025, which is also something that Sony did. They increased their console prices too, but to be fair, Xbox did it twice.
And then this. Costco has said that they’re not even carrying Xbox products anymore. And it’s not like Costco is bailing on the games business. They still carry PlayStation and Switch games and platforms. It’s just that Xbox games that are gone. Xbox presence in Europe is not really big. Sometimes it feels like the whole house of cards is starting to crumble.
But then you have to remember that Xbox is no longer just hardware, they’ve pivoted. We’ve talked about this in a million videos. It’s now technically the single biggest game publisher because it owns Bethesda and Activision. Their presence in gaming isn’t going anywhere. And because of that, I don’t think Game Pass is really going anywhere either.
Final Thoughts
But what are the big takeaways here? Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is getting more expensive, but at least the two lower tiers remain the same price. PC Game Pass is also getting more expensive. The bump isn’t quite as bad, but you’re also barely getting anything for that extra 4.50.
Look, it’s easy to be dismissive about all this. I mean, we’ve been complaining. A lot of people have been complaining about price increases in gaming for years, but everyone mostly just went along with it. Now I think we’re reaching a serious turning point for a lot of people. The conversation around all this has changed and it’s not just complaining anymore, at least it doesn’t seem like it. It really does seem like a lot of people are actually getting out.
Like I said earlier, if you’re paying subscriptions, right, you have a monthly budget set, you know how much you wanna burn on these fun little subscriptions and every time they go up, you reevaluate. But when one goes up 50%, you’re reevaluating really hard.
And I’m sure some subscribers, like the numbers will go up again, subscribing to Game Pass again when the newest “Call of Duty” drops or the next big Bethesda game comes around. But I think a lot of people are just gonna be checked out. I guess time will tell how this announcement actually affects Xbox in the long run, because who knows? Maybe it’ll have zero effect on their business. Maybe they’ll keep trucking along fine.
But the response hasn’t been good. The perception around Game Pass has really changed dramatically in the last 24 hours. There’s a loss of consumer goodwill, consumer confidence going on here and the entire narrative has seemingly changed. Doesn’t seem like it’s really, quote unquote, “the best deal in gaming” anymore, which is kind of a problem because without that little bit of mind share, you know, some people aren’t even gonna consider Game Pass. If it’s not the cheapest option anymore for a lot of people, then what really do you get out of it?
Again, like I said too, some people are still gonna keep it, some people are gonna feel like they’re still getting enough. I think it really is a person-by-person basis here. The world of gaming has been getting trickier and trickier, but also like, life has been getting trickier and trickier. Everything is more expensive, everything keeps increasing in price and it sucks. Whether it’s systemic greed, whatever, it just feels like it’s the nail in the coffin for a lot of gamers in certain ways.
Hey, at least the only decent thing about this is that Microsoft is still honoring people who paid ahead, which I did personally. So those people won’t feel the price increase for, you know, depending on how much you have paid ahead for Xbox Game Pass. I think I’m good until January and then I feel the hit.
So if you’re paid up for a while, I guess you’re fine. And GameStop is still selling Game Pass subscriptions at $20 a month too if you wanna buy one. So there are still ways to save some money here and be savvy. It’s not like all doom and gloom.
In terms of pure gaming volume, Game Pass still gives you a hell of a lot of games and the amount of day one games released on the surface are still significant. I don’t think Xbox is half-assing things here, content side, and they’re not winding down the service and increasing the price at the same time. Like you’re not getting less. But again, like everything, it’s just getting more expensive.
Again, it just is a 50% increase. A up to $30 subscription just feels like out of nowhere and it really took people by surprise. In terms of what you’re actually getting for your money, the situation is just now more complicated than it used to be. Before October 1st, Game Pass was the best deal in gaming without question and now it’s more complicated.
So let us know what you think. If you are a Game Pass subscriber, whether it’s Ultimate, PC or the lower tiers, we’d love to hear from you. Are you pissed? Are you canceling your subscription? Do you plan to cancel your subscription or are you able to weather the storm? Maybe you’re looking forward to some of the games coming to the service and you still feel like it’s worth it.
All opinions are welcome here. So let us know in the comments how you feel. But as always, thanks for reading. We’ll see you guys next time.