Top line
Price increases are heading towards Xbox Game Pass users as well as the inclusion of a new tier for the subscription service, creating key price differences between Xbox and rival gaming platform PlayStation that mark the latest price hike amid increasingly expensive subscription plans within the entertainment industry.
Existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate users will start paying the increased fee in September. (Photo by … [+]
Highlights
Xbox Game Pass, which lets users play online and offers different tiers of deals, discounts and video game downloads, will see price increases for its most expensive “ultimate” tier, its cheapest “basic” tier and its PC Game Pass starting Wednesday for new subscribers and in September for existing subscribers, a company statement said. blog post.
The monthly price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase from $16.99 per month to $19.99 per month, PC Game Pass will increase from $9.99 to $11.99, and Xbox Game Pass Core will remain at $9.99 per month but will increase from $59.99 to $74.99 per year for annual plans, according to several electrical outlets.
A new mid-tier, Xbox Game Pass Standard, will be available to players in the near future for $14.99 per month, but it won’t include day one access, which is the ability to pre-install certain video games and play them on the day they’re released without having to purchase them outright.
PlayStation Plus Premium, the PlayStation equivalent of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at $17.99 per month, will be the cheaper of the two subscription services after the price increase, securing a $2 per month advantage over Xbox’s most expensive tier.
Mid- and lower-tier subscriptions for Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus will cost the same for players.
Existing Xbox Game Pass for console users, which is essentially being replaced by the new $14.99 per month standard tier, will be able to keep their $11 per month subscription and access day one games.
Get SMS alerts for the latest news from Forbes:We send you SMS alerts so you’re always up to date on the biggest news stories. Text the word “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here.
Tangent
Users of X, formerly known as Twitter, have taken issue with price increases and changes to the Xbox Game Pass tier system, specifically criticizing Microsoft for removing day one games from its mid-tier and making subscription changes ahead of the October release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which will be available to play as a day one title. The highly anticipated first-person shooter will be available as a day one title for PC Game Pass users, existing Xbox Game Pass for console users, and those willing to shell out the upgraded $19.99 per month for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. New Xbox Game Pass Core and upcoming Xbox Game Pass Standard users not having access to first day titlesbut day one titles like Black Ops 6 and exclusive Xbox games could serve as an incentive to upgrade to Ultimate despite the price hike.
Key context
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers make up the bulk of Game Pass users, according to The edgeThe Game Pass service as a whole had 34 million subscribers as of February and has already been hailed as a way to access a library of video games old and new without having to buy each one. Game Pass price first increase Last year, the Ultimate plan increased from $14.99 to $16.99 per month, and the Core plan increased from $9.99 to $10.99. PlayStation Plus users also saw their own price increase last year, with Annual package prices increase. Subscription price hikes have also spread across the entertainment industry, across music, movie and TV streaming services. Music streamer Spotify has raised prices on its plans by $1 to $3 across different tiers. Movie and TV streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV have all introduced higher costs for their services over the past year.
Further reading
Microsoft Cripples Xbox Game Pass Concept With New Day 1 Launch Restrictions (Forbes)
Microsoft raises Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price, launches new ‘Standard’ tier (The edge)