July 10, 2024, 9:52 am | Read time: 4 minutes
There’s quite a stir in Microsoft’s gaming division right now. Recent news has swung between outrage and excitement. Outrage over closed studios after Microsoft acquired many smaller names in the industry in recent years. Excitement over exciting new announcements and technical upgrades. Now comes the next piece of news, and it’s yet to be seen whether it will be good or bad for the community. As the company announced on Tuesday evening (July 9, 2024), the Xbox Game Pass is facing another price increase. And there are other changes as well.
Price Increase for Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft last raised the prices for its gaming subscription in the summer of 2023. The price increase affected the Xbox Game Pass and the Ultimate package. Since then, the regular subscription has cost 10 euros per month, and the Game Pass Ultimate is now 15 euros per month. The Xbox Series X also saw a 10 percent price increase—from 500 to 550 euros. So, what’s the situation now?
The price increase for the Xbox Game Pass is quite significant. Microsoft differentiates between PC and console players in its subscription. You can subscribe to the Game Pass for either one of the two platforms or both. The new prices apply to all offered models, but not all options.
- Game Pass PC: 9.99 euros per month, soon 11.99 euros per month (+ 20 percent)
- Game Pass Core: 6.99 euros per month remains; 59.99 euros per year, soon 69.99 euros per year (+ 17 percent)
- Game Pass Ultimate: 14.99 euros per month, soon 17.99 euros per month (+ 20 percent)
PC players of the Xbox Game Pass are particularly affected by the listed price increases, as both available subscriptions—PC and Ultimate—are becoming more expensive monthly. Only the Game Pass Core is getting more expensive in the annual subscription. In percentage terms, this option comes off best with an increase of “only” a mere 17 percent. PC and Ultimate subscriptions, on the other hand, are becoming 20 percent more expensive.
New Structure for Gaming Subscription
The price increase applies to new Xbox Game Pass customers starting July 10, 2024. Existing customers will have to pay more from September 12, 2024, or from their next billing cycle. Additionally, another benefit will be removed starting September 18. From then on, you can only extend your Game Pass subscription 13 months in advance. Current account balances are not affected by this change for now.
Additionally, one subscription is being discontinued or replaced by a new one. Specifically, it’s the console subscription, which is being replaced by the “Xbox Game Pass Standard.” This makes the Game Pass for consoles virtually obsolete for new customers and will no longer be offered to this target group in the future.
What You Should Know About Xbox Game Pass
Microsoft Raises Prices: Xbox and Game Pass to Become Significantly More Expensive
What Does the New Xbox Game Pass Standard Offer?
The new option retains many advantages of the previous subscription. However, Day-One titles are no longer included. Cloud gaming is also no longer possible with the Standard subscription. Console players will have to switch to the Ultimate Pass for that.
At least multiplayer titles can still be played with the new subscription. Access to the “Back” catalog with many games from various studios also remains. However, users will have to pay 14.99 euros per month for this. For new customers with a Microsoft console, this means a significant step back in features—along with a price increase for the Game Pass subscription.
It’s not yet known when the Xbox Game Pass Standard will be available. However, a release in September seems likely given the other changes.
Reasons for the Price Increase and Restructuring
It has long been speculated that Microsoft would raise the prices for its gaming subscription again. The reasons for these now-confirmed speculations are the changed market conditions and the sometimes enormously increased production costs for games, as well as for hardware.
Other companies have already accounted for this, even beyond the gaming sector. For example, EA Play became more expensive in 2024. A price increase for PlayStation was also announced at the end of 2023.