is a senior editor and author of Notepad , who has been covering all things Microsoft, PC, and tech for over 20 years.
When Microsoft first revealed that it would be giving day-one Game Pass releases to all of its own Xbox games back in 2018, it suddenly turned the subscription service into a must-have for many fans. It was lauded as “the best deal in gaming,” with memes about just how good a value Xbox Game Pass was.
But after a massive price hike this week, the top Xbox Game Pass tier is now $29.99 per month, adding up to a steep $360 a year, which is more than the $299 debut price of the Xbox Series S. It comes at a time when Microsoft is also increasing console prices and trying to convince people to buy a $1,000 Xbox Ally X handheld.
So, why are we suddenly in an Xbox $360 era? Microsoft obviously didn’t explain it during its announcement, but I suspect some of the price hikes are related to its costly acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
The stunning 50 percent increase has left many Xbox fans questioning the value of Game Pass. Microsoft didn’t even soften the blow with a discounted annual option, and the more affordable plans aren’t appealing as they don’t come with the main perk: day-one games. Some loyal fans think they’re being milked dry as Microsoft moves from attract mode to extract mode for Game Pass.
This year looked like it would be a great one for Xbox and Game Pass, but now everyone is turning against them. GameStop is mocking Xbox, and even Santa is pissed. It’s inevitable that such a price jump will result in mass cancellations, particularly as price hikes are the main reason people have given for unsubscribing from the service this year. Microsoft’s own account page for managing Game Pass has slowed to a halt this week, perhaps an early sign that a lot of people are trying to cancel their subscription.
And you can hardly blame them. Coupled with the price of an Xbox Series X increasing by $150 in just six months and Microsoft trying to convince everyone that a phone or a laptop is suddenly an Xbox, it’s a confusing and uncertain time for the platform.
Microsoft’s latest gaming challenges can be traced back to 2022. At the beginning of that year, the company announced a massive $68.7 billion deal to acquire Activision Blizzard, a move that has reshaped its gaming business. That same year, Microsoft also set an ambitious goal of reaching 100 million Game Pass subscribers by 2030, fueled by studio and content acquisitions and a plan to expand the Xbox playerbase far beyond the console.
But the division’s fortunes started to slip later that year. Starfield and Redfall were delayed, in what Xbox chief Phil Spencer called a “disaster situation” for Game Pass. A year later, the service got its first price hike, and Xbox console prices rose outside the US, too.
When the Activision Blizzard deal finally closed in late 2023, even more pressure was placed on Xbox’s margins. Microsoft’s gaming business suddenly had to justify this giant acquisition through new growth, and the cost cutting and price hikes began.
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