Gamers, get ready to tighten your belts. More than a year after Microsoft raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $20 a month, the company announced Wednesday that it's raising the price to $30 a month. You read that right. That price is in effect for new subscribers now, and current subscribers of the game service plan will see the increase on Nov. 4. If you prepaid for a few months of Ultimate already, the new price will go into effect at the end of your prepaid time.
Microsoft launched Ultimate in 2019 at $15 a month, raised the price to $17 a month in 2023 and then to $20 a month in 2024. At a time when Microsoft is raising the price of consoles, games and accessories, it's hard to see this latest price increase as anything but a finishing move.
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Still, in exchange for that price increase, Microsoft is bringing more perks to the Ultimate plan. From now on, Ultimate subscribers will receive 75 day-one releases per year, about 50% more than the number of day-one releases last year, as well as Ubisoft Plus Classics, Fortnite Crew (starting in November) and more. Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft Plus Classics subscriptions have a combined value of $28 a month.
Xbox Cloud Gaming is also coming out of beta, and Ultimate subscribers can stream select games at a 1440p resolution.
Microsoft announced a flurry of other changes coming to other Xbox Game Pass plans on Wednesday. The company is upgrading and renaming the Core and Standard plans to Essential and Premium, respectively. Core and Standard subscribers will automatically be enrolled in Essential and Premium subscriptions, and those plans will maintain their current $10 and $15 price tags. Microsoft is also bringing PC, console and cloud gaming, as well as in-game benefits, to each plan.
However, Microsoft is increasing the price of PC Game Pass -- which is not being renamed -- from $12 a month to $16.49 a month.
The company will also bring day-one releases to Game Pass Premium within a year of launch, but the company is excluding some games, like those in the Call of Duty series, from this plan.
Microsoft
On paper, these changes increase the value gamers get from each Game Pass tier, but I find it difficult to see many people paying $30 a month for Game Pass Ultimate over the long term. While the service offers more features and day-one releases, what matters is whether the package is what players want, can use and are willing to pay for.
If I hadn't played Fortnite before, adding Fortnite Crew to Ultimate probably wouldn't lure me to the game. And if I'm a parent, regularly work overtime or have other responsibilities in addition to a full-time job, I may not be able to game a lot. Adding features and games to a service won't add hours to the day, nor will it convince you to play the titles available.
Microsoft is likely hoping gamers appreciate having a larger gaming catalog and more choices. But depending on how much (or how little) time you have to game, the extra $10 a month for Ultimate may make you rethink your subscription.
Some people might pay the $30 for a month or two and then cancel the plan for a few months, or people might return to buying games outright. Game Pass Ultimate's price made sense when it was introduced in 2019 because new AAA games at the time were about $60, so four months of Ultimate would cover the price of one game.
Now, despite the cost of games inching higher to between $70 and $80 each, one game equals the cost of about two months of Ultimate. Those value adds may not justify the price hikes for some people. Plus, some indie games, like Hollow Knight: Silksong, currently retail for less than the cost of one month of Ultimate, so it might be cheaper to buy different titles depending on what you want to play.
I imagine some people will cancel their Ultimate subscription, and others will pay more attention to when Microsoft adds certain day-one games to the service. That way, people can subscribe for a month to play those games and then unsubscribe again to save money.
For more on Xbox, discover some games available on Game Pass now, the best Game Pass deals and learn which Game Pass plan is right for you. You can also check out more on the latest Xbox hardware price hikes.