Microsoft is raising the price of Game Pass. From September, there will also be a new standard category that will no longer include all new release titles. We have the most important information
Netflix and Spotify have led the way, now Microsoft is following suit:As the company announced today, the pricing for the popular games subscription will be tightened this year.
To offset the higher costs, a new lower-priced basic subscription will be introduced at the same time, albeit with some restrictions.The most important changes at a glance:
The new prices:
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: The premium version of Game Pass, including all fresh releases right at launch, is increasing from 15 to 18 euros per month. Calculated over the year, you will now pay a subscription price of around 216 euros instead of the previous 180 euros.
- PC Game Pass:The PC version of the Game Pass including day-one titles now costs 12 euros (previously 10 euros per month).
- Xbox Game Pass Core:This subscription (formerly known as Xbox Live Gold) only includes online multiplayer and a small selection of games. The price for the annual subscription will be raised from 60 to 70 euros. In the USA at least, the monthly unit price will remain at 10 US dollars.
- Xbox Game Pass for consoles: The previous basic version, which was priced at 10 euros, has been canceled and is no longer available. You can continue to use existing subscriptions under the previous conditions – however, the console Game Pass will expire in 13 months.
- Xbox Game Pass Standard: The new basic subscription costs around 15 euros. You can read more about this below.
You can read about future international pricing for different currencies on the Microsoft website.
When will the changes come into force?
AsWindows Centralreports, the new priceswill take effect on Thursday, September 12, 2024, which is two months from now.If you don’t like the new prices, you still have plenty of time to cancel your Game Pass subscription before then.
The new standard subscription
In addition to the higher prices, the biggest innovation in Game Pass is likely to be the new Standard subscription Subscribers can use the Game Pass library with hundreds of games including online multiplayer. However, they will not have access to day-one releases and Xbox Cloud Games
The price for the standard level is currently quoted at 15 euros per month.An exact start date for this has not yet been set, but September is also considered likely here.Calculated over the year, this comes to a subscription price of around 180 euros.
If you are looking for more information on the price changes and their consequences for the various subscriptions, Microsoft has set up a special support page for customers
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What do you think of the Game Pass price changes? Are you a subscriber? Will you continue or cancel your subscription? What do you think of game subscriptions in general? Let us know in the comments below:
