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Xbox Game Pass is about to undergo even more changes to its subscription models and pricing, just about a year after Microsoft ditched Xbox Live Gold and introduced the Game Pass Core tier, and just weeks after confirming that the service would get a huge boost with the next Call of Duty title launching on the service on day one.
Now, the company is removing the Game Pass console tier starting today and will soon roll out a new Xbox Game Pass “Standard” that includes back catalog titles and online multiplayer, but doesn’t cover day one releases like the current Console/PC and Ultimate tiers do. On top of that, a number of tiers are getting price increases.
The first reports of the changes came from Windows Central and has since been verified by Microsoft, with support pages now reflecting the new pricing structure for each region. Here’s what’s changing as of today, July 10:
- Xbox Game Pass for Console is being deleted. Existing users who are still subscribed will be able to keep their subscription, but no new registrations will take place.
- Instead, the mid-range option will now be Xbox Game Pass Standard which includes content from Game Pass’s “back catalogue” without Day One releases and without Xbox Cloud Gaming, but includes Xbox Live multiplayer. It will cost $14.99 per month (Australian pricing TBD) and will launch “in the coming months.”
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gets a price increase for $22.95 per month, from $18.95.
- PC Game Pass increases to $13.95 per month, from $10.95
- Xbox Game Pass Basic gets an annual price increase at $89.95 per year, from $79.95.
- It will no longer be possible to accumulate Game Pass subscriptions of more than 13 months. If you currently have more time accumulated, it will remain that way.
While price increases will come into effect for new memberships starting today, existing members will see their rates updated on September 12th provided their membership is still current.
We’ll continue to update this story as we learn more, but a quick and easy recommendation for current Game Pass users is to take advantage of current prices and stock up on time while you can. You can get Game Pass Ultimate prepaid cards on Amazon with instant digital delivery below: