How much does Xbox Game Pass cost? Price hike and new standard subscription explained

Microsoft is shaking Xbox Game Pass with price hikes and new subscription plan as release nears Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on the all-you-can-eat service.

New users now have to pay an extra £2 per month for PC Game Pass (£9.99) and Game Pass Ultimate (£14.99), while existing members will get the increase in September. Both services still offer the same benefits, which we’ve listed in detail below.

Alongside the price increases for the PC and Ultimate versions, Microsoft will also be introducing a new Standard plan in the coming months. While the UK price has yet to be confirmed, this new plan essentially replaces the £9 per month Console plan, which is no longer available to new subscribers as of July 10, albeit with a few important changes.

Here are all the Game Pass plans with their new prices and a full list of benefits.

Xbox Game Pass plans: how much does a subscription cost?

With the introduction of its new Standard plan, Microsoft will soon offer four Game Pass subscription options, two of which (PC and Ultimate) now have new prices:

Game Pass Core (£6.99 per month)

• A smaller library of around 40 games with little to no new additions

• Online multiplayer console

• Offers and discounts

• Cons: No Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Game Pass for PC (£9.99 per month)

• The complete library of around 400 games with new titles added every month

• Xbox first-party games released on day one

• Online multiplayer support as standard

Game Pass Ultimate (£14.99 per month)

• The complete library of around 400 games with new titles added every month

• For consoles and PC

• Xbox first-party games released on day one

• Online multiplayer support

• EA Play Membership and Games

• Stream games across multiple platforms

Game Pass Standard ($14.99 – UK price TBC)

• Future

• Hundreds of old and new games, but no new releases

• Online multiplayer console

• Offers and discounts

• Cons: No Black Ops 6. No day one release.

Which Xbox Game Pass service is right for you?

For gamers, the updated Game Pass pricing will inevitably push more Xbox console owners towards the most expensive Ultimate tier.

Alas, the new Standard plan is a mixed bag: unlike the Console tier it replaces, it offers online multiplayer support, but ditches day-one releases like Black Ops 6, FableAnd Doom: The Dark Ages.

So if you want to play the new Call of Duty On Xbox consoles, Ultimate is the only game in town.

Why is the price of Game Pass increasing?

While Microsoft hasn’t explicitly stated that the price hike is directly due to Black Ops 6, which will be coming to Game Pass on October 25 (its release date), the timing and changes to the service’s structure suggest that the high-profile title may have played a role.

Microsoft’s Game Pass has seen explosive growth during the pandemic, reaching 34 million subscribers in early 2024, up from 25 million in January 2022, but new subscribers are now harder to come by.

This, combined with its acquisition of Call of Duty studio for $69 billion (then £56 billion) Activision Blizzard in October, suggests that Microsoft is looking for ways to maintain growth and recoup sales lost from day one releases like Black Ops 6 (a game that will likely retail for £70).

The price increase is not an isolated event. Sony has increased the prices of PlayStation Plus last year, citing “market conditions” and the need to invest in “high-quality games and value-added benefits.” Similarly, Nvidia GeForce Now cloud game The service has also seen price increases in some regions outside the UK.