Xbox Game Pass increases prices beyond the standard level and stops games on day one

Back in May, Microsoft confirmed that Call Of Duty would be coming to Game Pass on day one, and that, despite rumors, it wouldn’t include creating a new, more expensive tier for the subscription tier.

That’s not true, though, as massive changes are coming to the service, which will see both a price increase across the board and the release of new first-party games for the new Standard tier at the end of the first day.

The current Xbox Game Pass for Console service will be canceled on September 12 and replaced by the more expensive Xbox Game Pass Standard. Importantly, it won’t feature first-party games from day one, or cloud gaming capabilities.

The price of the new Standard service has yet to be confirmed in the UK, but it will be $14.99 in the US, so you’d expect the UK price to be more than £10.

At this price, you’ll still be able to freely download existing first-party Xbox games and the usual rotating offering of third-party titles, and you’ll also be able to play online as it includes the equivalent of Xbox Live Gold/Game Pass Core. .

To have access to cloud games and new titles from day one, you’ll need to pay for the more expensive Xbox Game Pass Ultimate option, which is currently £12.99 a month but will now rise to £14.99.

Surprisingly, PC Game Pass will still get first-party games on day one, and while the price is also going up, it’s a more modest increase from £7.99 a month to £9.99 in the UK.

Finally, the Xbox Game Pass Core subscription service, formerly known as Xbox Live Gold, will maintain its monthly price in the UK at £6.99, but its annual price will increase from £49.99 to £55.99.

In typical Microsoft fashion, it’s all terribly confusing, but while no public announcement has yet been made, there’s a short FAQ page on the Xbox website after the changes were originally leaked from Windows Central.

If you currently have a Core membership, nothing will be charged and you will be able to keep your subscription. However, starting September 12th, you’ll only be able to stack Xbox Game Pass for the console for a maximum of 13 months.

While this is the second year in a row that Microsoft has raised Game Pass prices, this is a much more significant change to how the service works in terms of pricing, with Standard now much less attractive than the outgoing Game Pass for the Dashboard.

No doubt this is a response to the fact that Game Pass and subscription services in general have not taken off as well as expected, and that adding Call Of Duty to the service risks losing revenue from Xbox and PC owners who would otherwise pay. full price for it.

Microsoft says most Game Pass users already use Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which includes console and PC options, so from those customers’ perspective only the price increase will change.

Regardless of how it panned out, though, it’s further proof that subscription services aren’t the killer app Microsoft once made them out to be, and that Game Pass wasn’t sustainable at its previous lower prices.