As the Xbox team has just announced, Microsoft’s gaming subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, will see price increases across all existing tiers, including Ultimate and, by extension, Xbox Cloud Gaming. The company has also announced a significant change to the Xbox Game Pass for consoles. These news come after months of claims by Xbox directives about “no plans” for a price increase.
Starting soon, new users will be introduced to a new tier called Xbox Game Pass Standard. This tier will not include day-one game releases but will offer access to a back catalog of games and access to multiplayer. The Standard tier is priced at $14.99 per month and does not include Xbox Cloud Gaming. It is expected to launch in September.
As for now, existing users of Xbox Game Pass for Console will maintain their current subscriptions. This includes day-one games and the back catalog of titles.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will see a price increase to $19.99 per month. It will continue to include PC Game Pass, day-one games, a back catalog of titles, and Xbox Cloud Gaming. The standalone PC Game Pass will also see an increase, from $9.99 to $11.99 per month, while continuing to offer day-one games.
Xbox Game Pass Core, previously known as Xbox Live Gold, will increase its annual price from $59.99 to $74.99, but the monthly rate will remain at $9.99.
The new prices for recurring billing will take effect on September 12th. According to Microsoft, most users are already subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate, which provides access to games on consoles, cloud, and PC, often with cross-save and cross-progression features.
