{"id":55288,"date":"2025-10-01T16:14:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:14:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/55288\/"},"modified":"2025-10-01T16:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-10-01T16:14:09","slug":"xbox-game-pass-ultimate-price-jumps-50-as-more-gamers-turn-to-subscription","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/55288\/","title":{"rendered":"Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price jumps 50%, as more gamers turn to subscription"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $29.99\/\u00a322.99 a month, which represents a huge 50% price hike.<\/p>\n

However, Xbox is bolstering the service with a number of major additions, including the Ubisoft+ Classics collection and the Fortnite Crew service. The firm also pledges to release more than 75 \u2018day one\u2019 games into Game Pass Ultimate every year.<\/p>\n

It comes as game subscription services are increasing in popularity. In the US, game subscription revenue has increased for five consecutive months between March and July. For 2025 (January – July), spending on game subscriptions is 19% higher than the same period the year before (this doesn\u2019t include mobile, but does include Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Switch Online, MMOs etc).<\/p>\n

There is also a price rise for PC Game Pass, which will go up by more than a third to $16.49\/\u00a313.49.<\/p>\n

The other Xbox Game Pass tiers will see price increases in some markets, but not everywhere. And they\u2019re being rebranded. Xbox Game Pass Core is now called Xbox Game Pass Essential, while Xbox Game Pass Standard is becoming Xbox Game Pass Premium. Both will maintain their current price of $14.99 and $9.99 in the US.<\/p>\n

More than just a rebrand, Microsoft is expanding cloud gaming to all of its subscription offerings. And is increasing the number of titles available in all tiers. The firm also promises to release all Xbox-published titles into its Premium service within a year of launch.<\/p>\n

Here are some key statistics:<\/p>\n

75 Day One titles in Game Pass Ultimate represents a 50% increase over the previous year<\/p>\n

The average Game Pass Ultimate subscriber would have to spend $550 just to buy all the games they play in a year<\/p>\n

The total cost of the games available in Game Pass individually is more than $10,000<\/p>\n

Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ would cost nearly $20 a month if paid for separately<\/p>\n

Game Pass subscribers spend the majority of their time playing catalogue titles<\/p>\n

The price changes come a year after the previous increases, which included a rise of 17.5% for Game Pass Ultimate (from $16.99 to $19.99) and a 20% jump for PC Game Pass (from $9.99 to $11.99)<\/p>\n

According to Circana\u2019s quarterly Future of Video Games survey, US subscribers to Game Pass during Q3 cited wanting to play the included games as the most common reason for subscribing, while needing to subscribe to play games online ranked No.1 on PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online. <\/p>\n

For those who have unsubscribed to these services, the most common reason cited for all three (Xbox, Nintendo and PlayStation) was being unable to \u201cjustify the cost of the subscription within my budget but liked the service\u201d followed by \u201cprice was too high for what was available.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The headlines (including the one for this article) will inevitably focus on the huge price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. $29.99 a month marks a $120 a year increase, almost the price of two new AAA games. In fact, the overall cost of $360 is the equivalent of more than five $70 titles.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, it comes just over a year since the last price increases. Since August 2024, Game Pass Ultimate has seen its price rise by nearly 77%.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s no disputing this truly is the ultimate game subscription service. Over 75 brand new games into the service a year (including all the latest releases from Xbox, Activision Blizzard and Bethesda), live service benefits with Fortnite, Riot Games and Call of Duty, enhanced cloud streaming, plus EA and Ubisoft\u2019s catalogue of AAA titles. There is a lot of value in this.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince August 2024, Game Pass Ultimate has seen its price rise by nearly 77%\u201d<\/p>\n

And Game Pass is having a strong year. Following the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 into the service in 2024, there\u2019s been a number of major launches, including Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Avowed, Doom: The Dark Ages, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Oblivion Remastered, and Hollow Knight: Silksong (and, for me personally, Tony Hawk\u2019s Pro Skater 3 + 4).<\/p>\n

It\u2019s inevitable some Game Pass Ultimate users will unsubscribe at this hefty increase. Circana\u2019s survey data showed that being unable to justify the cost, or the price being too high for what was on offer, are the two primary reasons for why people leave a video game subscription service. <\/p>\n

But when you consider the average Game Pass Ultimate customer plays $550 worth of games a year (plus, the fact that $10 a month in 2025 would barely get you two coffees in Starbucks), it\u2019s perhaps more palatable than it first appears. <\/p>\n

But what I feel is more significant is that the lower tiers (Essential and Premium) have become more attractive, with additional games, cloud offerings and rewards, and at no additional cost (in most markets). At a time when disposable income is under threat from rising food prices<\/a> (amongst other things), keeping these entry-tiers at accessible prices could prove crucial. Circana has been reporting a strong increase in video game subscription revenue this year in the US (up 21% in July year-on-year), and it\u2019s not difficult to believe this could be due to consumers seeking more affordable ways to play video games.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, the majority of Game Pass subscribers actually don\u2019t spend their time on new games anyway, they\u2019re mostly engaged with catalogue titles. Therefore, the $14.99 Game Pass Premium offering will be more than enough for most users.<\/p>\n

There is some lingering anxiety in the industry on the impact subscription services are having on sales of premium games. And with Game Pass Ultimate getting expanded to such a degree, that concern is not likely to go away anytime soon.<\/p>\n

But subscription services are here to stay, and with consumer spending under threat, plus discoverability continuing to be a major issue, services such as Game Pass will likely play an ever-important role in navigating these on-going economic challenges.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $29.99\/\u00a322.99 a month, which represents a huge 50% price hike. However,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":55289,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":["post-55288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55288"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55288\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/55289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}