Wednesday, July 10th 2024
Microsoft Increases the Price for Game Pass on PC and Xbox
By the time you're reading this, it's already too late to sign up for the old price, if you were planning on getting or extending your Game Pass, since as of today, Microsoft has increased the cost for both PC and Xbox owners. On top of that, Microsoft has added a new tier for Xbox owners and made its lower tiers a lot less interesting. However, as TPU is a PC centric site, let's start with the bad news for PC owners. Depending on where you live, the price increase varies, but on average, Microsoft has increased the price by US$/€2/£2. However, some lower income countries are only seeing an increase of US$1, although we're not sure why Switzerland ended up in this group. However, the exchange rate is clearly affecting some other countries either negatively or positively where some countries end up paying a little bit more and others a little bit less.
Now for the really bad news for Xbox console owners. Xbox Game Pass for Console is no longer available to new subscribers, but those already on this tier that have automatic renewal enabled will be able to continue to have access to the same tier and perks that it's been offered with to date. In its place, Microsoft is introducing the Xbox Game Pass Standard tier and the fundamental difference between it and the Xbox Game Pass for Console package is that subscribers no longer have access to day one releases, but they gain access to online multiplayer games and the full back catalogue of games. There's no word on how long those subscribed to the Xbox Game Pass Standard tier will have to wait to gain access to new releases yet, but the new tier isn't available immediately either, so we'll most likely find out in due time.
The Xbox Game Pass Standard tier will set you back US$14.99 a month—Microsoft hasn't released international pricing as yet—an increase of US$4 over the old Xbox Game Pass for Console tier. At the same time, Microsoft is also increasing the price for the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from US$16.99/€14.99/£12.99 to US$19.99/€17.99/£14.99. On top of that, the Xbox Game Pass Core is seeing an increase in the yearly subscription fee from US$59.99/€59.99/£49.99 to US$74.99/€69.99/£55.99, although the monthly fee isn't changing at this point in time, except for in Argentina, Turkey and South Africa which are all seeing a small increase. Local exchange rates affect the above prices as well and you can find a full list of prices in this PDF file provided by Microsoft.
Source:
Microsoft Game Pass FAQ
Now for the really bad news for Xbox console owners. Xbox Game Pass for Console is no longer available to new subscribers, but those already on this tier that have automatic renewal enabled will be able to continue to have access to the same tier and perks that it's been offered with to date. In its place, Microsoft is introducing the Xbox Game Pass Standard tier and the fundamental difference between it and the Xbox Game Pass for Console package is that subscribers no longer have access to day one releases, but they gain access to online multiplayer games and the full back catalogue of games. There's no word on how long those subscribed to the Xbox Game Pass Standard tier will have to wait to gain access to new releases yet, but the new tier isn't available immediately either, so we'll most likely find out in due time.
58 Comments on Microsoft Increases the Price for Game Pass on PC and Xbox
How many of these people talking about not owning the games and pissing money away are renting their homes/apartments? A few hundred dollars a year is beans compared to THAT waste. If you're worried about a few hundred dollars are year, you probably should be spending money on things other than games.
There are pros to all digital subscription services, but there are also major downsides. The biggest pro (which is also the hook) is that it gets you is immediate access to a significant collection of content that would cost way more than buying them all. There's potential to discover something new, that you may not have ever purchased. More variety improves the experience, right?
And now the cons...
You now have no control over what content you have delivered. It might be good stuff, it might be mostly junk. Content might be here today, but then gone tomorrow due to expiring licensing or cost-cutting measures. Next, you have no control over pricing, and subscription pricing has always gone up, be it games, movies, or music. And then the real issue kicks in, you have paid hundreds of dollars and have no rights to anything. You are now hostage to the monthly fee. You can always cancel, but if that's all you've ever done, then now your console is worthless unless you start purchasing games. And this is truly the worst part of any subscription model--you are hostage to the whims of the provider. If content is deemed offensive, it will get wiped from existence, or, it might get retconned. Subscription services actually devalue the content into consumable goods, like a good takeout meal. It actually changes how the industry thinks, operates, and distributes content. It becomes intentionally disposable, because that's what the consumer does.
This has happened across all the subscription services that I've seen. None are the same as they once were. Now there are even ads in for-pay subs. The sad thing is, I don't know that having that much variety makes us any happier than when we had a handful of quality games to chose from. We just have less attention span and have become more tolerant of garbage content.