As reported earlier by Tom Warren of the Verge, Microsoft is raising the price of Xbox and PC Game Pass effective immediately for new members and will be increasing the price for existing subscribers starting in September. They have also made adjustments to the various tiers to account for day one Game Pass releases.
Microsoft has provided a FAQ for the new tier setup here.
- Xbox Game Pass Core – $9.99 / No day one games
- PC Game Pass – $11.99 / Day one games
- Xbox Game Pass for Console (existing subs) – $10.99 / Day one games
- Xbox Game Pass Standard (new only) – $14.99 / No day one games
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – $19.99 / Day one games
Since January of this year, it was widely reported that subscription service growth has been flat and many are viewing this move as a way for Microsoft to offset any potential losses from including Call of Duty and other high profile releases in the service on day one.
While there are many reasons to blame for the price hikes… Microsoft’s own reporting shows that hardware sales have been down 31% and 38% respectively over the past six months. Sales have been so bad in Europe that it was reported that many publishers were considering ditching Xbox all together. Needless to say this has placed Microsoft in an awkward position where they are now forced to port their first party titles over to PlayStation and Nintendo just to generate revenue.
Just yesterday, Game Pass was officially launched on the Amazon Fire Stick TV. So, you don’t even need an Xbox to play any of Microsoft’s 1st party games anymore.
