Xbox Is Pushing Players Away With Game Pass Price Hikes

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Throughout my years reporting on the gaming industry, Microsoft consistently seems to make missteps. After a hopeful start to 2025, it feels like every month brings a frustrating decision – sometimes multiple within weeks. We’ve seen price hikes for the Xbox Series X/S, layoffs, and a strange attempt to charge $80 for games, starting with *The Outer Worlds 2* (though they likely would have tried it with *Black Ops 7* as well). July brought even more layoffs and canceled projects, followed by a reversal of the $80 price increase.

The ROG Xbox Ally and Ally X generated excitement at Gamescom in August. Shortly after, in September, the price of the Xbox Series X/S increased in the US. Now, the Xbox Series X 2 TB Galaxy Black Edition costs $800 – that’s $50 more than a PS5 Pro, but offers less power, and all this for a console whose sales have been decreasing. It’s hard to justify the cost. For comparison, the Xbox Ally and Ally X are priced at $600 and $1000.

Microsoft Gaming’s Game Pass is a major success, so it seemed unlikely they’d make changes that would hurt it. However, starting in October, they announced a restructuring of the service with a new slogan, “This is how we play.” The price of Game Pass Ultimate has increased from $20 to $30 per month. Game Pass Standard has been renamed to Premium and now costs $15, while Core is now called Essential and costs $10. It’s a bit ironic that they’re calling a mid-tier option “Premium” when PlayStation Plus considers Premium to be its highest level.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available to all subscription levels, and it’s officially out of beta! Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members get the highest quality streaming. Plus, you still get all the existing perks – like access to Fortnite Crew, EA Play, online multiplayer, and over 75 new games released on day one each year (which is a great offering, especially this year). There’s one significant change for Premium members: you’ll no longer get new Xbox-published games the moment they launch. Instead, you’ll have access to them within a year – it could be any time during that year, so it’s a bit of a wait to see when!

Many players are upset about the price increase for Game Pass Ultimate and the changes to the standard Game Pass tier, especially after Xbox president Sarah Bond announced that Game Pass generated $5 billion in sales last year. The timing seems intentional, coinciding with the release of three new Xbox games – *Ninja Gaiden 4, Keeper,* and *The Outer Worlds 2* – and the fact that Ultimate subscribers will get to try out the *Call of Duty: Black Ops 7* beta early.

Players will get the complete game in November, but it seems Microsoft is capitalizing on the fear of missing out – the excitement around getting early access through beta codes – to encourage people to subscribe to its Game Pass Ultimate, which is now pricier.

Recently, it’s been discovered that Xbox Game Pass subscribers at all levels no longer get discounts on downloadable content (DLC) and add-ons in the Xbox Store. While this might not seem like a big deal for older games like *Forza Horizon*, it’s impacting newer releases. For example, the new story expansion, *The Order of Giants*, for *Indiana Jones and the Great Circle* requires players to pay full price, even if they have a Game Pass subscription. The same applies to upcoming expansions for games like *Starfield* – even if you’re already playing the base game with Game Pass, you’ll have to pay full price for the new content. Microsoft is consistently charging full price for these add-ons, regardless of subscription status, and the next *Starfield* expansion may be as substantial as *Shattered Space*.

This change also affects any add-ons or in-game purchases in *Call of Duty*. It seems like Activision is trying to boost profits for *Black Ops 7*, possibly because sales of the previous game were lower than expected, likely due to its availability on Game Pass. It makes you wonder if Microsoft is simply fixing a problem it intentionally caused in the first place.

Fortunately, there’s reportedly a free option for those who don’t like the current Xbox pricing. According to Tom Warren at The Verge, Xbox Cloud Gaming will be available for free, but it will include advertisements.

Microsoft is reportedly testing a feature that lets you stream some games without a Game Pass subscription – including games you already own and classic Xbox titles. However, you’ll likely have to watch a two-minute ad before you can play, and each streaming session will be limited to one hour. These details are still subject to change, including how many free hours will be offered each month. The feature is planned for PC, Xbox consoles, web browsers, and Microsoft’s new portable gaming devices.

It’s easy to wonder why Microsoft is making these changes, especially if Game Pass is already successful. The truth is, it’s *because* Game Pass is profitable that they’re pushing for even more revenue. These price increases all seem connected to *Call of Duty*, and since it’s no longer possible to limit day-one access on Game Pass, Microsoft will likely try to maximize profits to offset any potential loss in sales.

It’s not shocking that the Ultimate version costs $10 more, considering they initially wanted to price their big first-party games at $70 before changing their minds. I expect they’ll officially settle on an $80 price tag next year, pointing to games like *Fable*, *Gears of War: E-Day*, and *Forza Horizon 6* as justification. And if that’s too expensive, they’ll remind you Game Pass Ultimate is only $30 – though it wouldn’t be surprising if that price eventually goes up to $40 too, but they’ll still claim it’s a good value.

I know it probably *looks* like I’m bashing Microsoft, especially with all these changes clearly aimed at boosting their profits even further. Honestly, they’re doing a pretty good job of that themselves, framing everything as a great deal and trotting out another empty slogan. I’d feel a little better if I didn’t think all this was just fueling their big push into AI. But even then, I’m not sure it would really change how I feel.

This isn’t simply about the increased cost of Game Pass compared to its original price, or even about criticizing Microsoft for wanting to make a profit – that’s just what companies do. The real issue is the larger pattern of decisions Microsoft has made. They seem to have prioritized Game Pass subscriptions over direct game sales, repeatedly undermined their own Xbox console, released flawed products and then tried to cover it up, and made layoffs and closed studios while leadership has struggled. Now, instead of trying to build good relationships with their existing customers – the only area where they’ve seen success so far – they seem intent on charging them even more.

This is a risky move, and like many of Microsoft’s recent attempts, its long-term success is uncertain. However, they’ve invested so much already that they really have no choice but to continue with it.

The opinions shared in this article are the author’s own and don’t reflect the official stance of GamingBolt.

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2025-10-06 17:24