I’m leaving Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in the dust — I just cancelled my subscription and moved to the new best tier instead

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Xbox Game Pass launched in 2017 and has seen several updates over the past eight years, but this week’s changes are likely the most significant yet.

The company announced a major update to its program on Wednesday, completely revamping it with new and expanded features, as well as updated pricing. These changes are largely seen as Microsoft’s commitment to making games available on multiple devices, and were announced right before the release of the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X handheld gaming consoles.

Xbox Game Pass has been updated! The basic and standard plans have been replaced with two new options: Game Pass Essential ($9.99/month) and Game Pass Premium ($14.99/month). Both new plans offer access to games on Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, and through Xbox Cloud Gaming. Essential now includes over 50 games, and you can even earn rewards – $25 with Essential or $50 with Premium – just by playing throughout the year. Best of all, the price hasn’t increased!

However, these improvements weren’t free. Microsoft increased the price of PC Game Pass from $11.99 to $16.49 per month, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate saw a significant increase, jumping from $19.99 to $29.99 per month.

Microsoft did add Ubisoft+ games and a Fortnite Crew membership (with monthly V-Bucks and cosmetics) as a way to make up for the price increase. However, many Game Pass subscribers were very upset about the higher price, especially for the Ultimate tier, and so many canceled their subscriptions that Microsoft’s website had trouble handling the traffic.

Ultimate is no longer the best deal in gaming

As an analyst, I’ve always seen Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, at just $19.99 a month, as a truly exceptional value. It’s hard to dispute the claim it’s the best deal in gaming when you consider everything you get: access to over 400 games on Xbox consoles and PC, cloud gaming, the EA Play library, and guaranteed day-one access to new games from Xbox Game Studios. It really delivers a lot for the price.

The price of the top-tier Game Pass has jumped a significant 50%, making it too costly for a lot of people. Considering the many streaming services available for TV and movies, and the general increase in everyday expenses, it’s hard to justify the cost.

This price increase follows a jump from $16.99 to $19.99 for Ultimate last year, and also comes after Xbox increased the cost of its consoles twice. To illustrate how much prices have risen, the Xbox Series S – originally known as an affordable option – now costs the same as the digital version of the PlayStation 5.

The price of the top-tier Game Pass has jumped by 50%, making it too costly for a lot of people to continue subscribing.

It was likely that hardware prices would go up, especially with increasing U.S. tariffs and a changing global economy. However, the recent, significant price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, right after those hardware hikes, makes Xbox feel less like a great value compared to PlayStation and Switch. And so far, we haven’t seen much improvement in what you get for the higher price.

It’s good that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now includes Ubisoft+ and a Fortnite Crew membership, especially if you enjoy those games. However, if you’re not interested in Ubisoft’s games or Fortnite – and I’m not – the only new benefit of the updated Ultimate subscription is the chance to earn $100 in Xbox rewards each year. That extra perk doesn’t justify the price increase from $240 to $360 annually.

While I understand Xbox Cloud Gaming and streaming services probably needed a price increase, I think Microsoft would have been better off spreading those costs out over time instead of raising prices so much for Ultimate members all at once. That’s why I decided to cancel my Ultimate subscription and switch to the standard Game Pass tier, which I now think offers the best value.

PC Game Pass has taken the crown

Even though the price of PC Game Pass recently increased to $16.49, it’s still a great value – and I decided to subscribe after canceling my Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. It offers many of the same benefits as Ultimate, including access to over 400 games and new Xbox releases on day one. Plus, you get games from EA Play and Ubisoft+, and can earn $50 in Xbox credit each year.

The biggest drawback of PC Game Pass is that it’s only for PC players. Unlike other Game Pass options, it doesn’t work on Xbox consoles or through cloud gaming, so you need a Windows PC or a compatible handheld device to use it. Essentially, whether or not you can subscribe depends on having a suitable Windows computer.

Putting together a gaming PC can really strain your wallet, and most handheld gaming devices are also quite pricey. However, if you already have a capable device, PC Game Pass is definitely the best value you can get from the service.

Putting together a gaming PC can really strain your wallet, and decent gaming handhelds aren’t affordable for everyone. However, if you already have a capable device, PC Game Pass is by far the best value the service offers. As a dedicated PC gamer, I definitely think it’s the way to go.

Ultimately, you’re getting almost everything the premium version offers for more than half the cost. I’ll definitely miss playing Xbox Game Pass titles and having my progress sync across devices, but it’s not worth an extra $13.50 per month when a cheaper option is available.

I really hope the strong negative reaction to the price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate makes Microsoft rethink things. Ideally, they’d bring back a version similar to the old Ultimate, without the Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ subscriptions, to get the price back down to $19.99. But until that happens, I’ll be using PC Game Pass instead, as that currently offers the best value – especially if you can still redeem any existing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate cards before they’re gone.

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2025-10-03 01:41