Microsoft has recently increased the cost of Xbox gaming consoles, followed by an increase in game prices up to $80. It is possible that they may consider raising the price for Xbox Game Pass next.
Over the last 12 months, corporations such as Microsoft have been incrementally raising their product and service prices. They attribute this trend to factors like Trump’s tariff disputes, persistent inflation, and fluctuating consumer confidence. Regardless of the cause, investors appear unfazed, as financial giants like JP Morgan, Blackrock, and Vanguard are poised to reap hundreds of millions from Microsoft’s dividend payments this quarter. After all, shareholders are always hungry for more returns, aren’t they?
Following an increase in the cost of Xbox consoles and Xbox games to $80, there’s a possibility that Microsoft might consider increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass as well.
The individual known as @RedPhx, who is behind the impressive Better xCloud Xbox Cloud Gaming improvement initiative, has observed that in the last few days, Xbox Cloud Gaming introduced a new kind of notification called “SubscriptionPriceIncrease.” It’s quite interesting!
The strings refer to pop-up messages that appear when players activate notifications in the Xbox.com/play web application for Xbox Cloud Gaming. These messages typically include updates about earned rewards, unlocked achievements, friends logging in, and so forth. However, a recent one regarding subscription price increases is novel.
It’s likely that an increase in the price of Xbox Game Pass is coming soon, considering that Microsoft chose this moment to inform users about the need for such a change.
Xbox Cloud Gaming, a component of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate package, retails for $20 monthly. This service allows you to access a vast library of games that can be played using Microsoft’s server infrastructure. While it’s a good offering, its latency and resolution performance lags behind NVIDIA GeForce Now. The reason being, the specialized cloud servers designed explicitly for gaming by NVIDIA outperform Microsoft’s in delivering smooth streaming experiences.
The next generation of Xbox Cloud Gaming
Despite significant advancements throughout the years, it hasn’t progressed to a stage where Microsoft feels comfortable enough to eliminate the (Beta) label, a designation that has been associated with its name ever since its official public debut several years back.
According to our information, it appears that Microsoft is currently developing the next version of their Xbox cloud servers. At present, these new servers are being tested at their headquarters in Redmond. These upcoming servers will be included as part of Microsoft’s future hardware lineup, alongside devices such as the Xbox Ally and the successor to the Xbox Series X. The anticipated Xbox Cloud Gaming servers aim to provide reduced latency, enhanced bitrates, and a variety of higher resolution options.
It’s been reported that Microsoft is considering a subscription model based solely on the cloud, allowing them to detach from Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. More and more users in specific regions are moving towards cloud-only options. If Microsoft were to develop Xbox Cloud subscriptions with a tiered structure similar to NVIDIA GeForce Now, it’s likely that you’d need to pay extra for higher quality video streams.
It seems likely that we won’t have to wait much longer to discover if the cost of Xbox Game Pass will rise, as suggested by the price hike it experienced last year.
Read More
2025-06-13 20:39