Microsoft has confirmed to The Verge that they are raising the price of a Game Pass across most territories. It also confirmed that there will also be a price increase for the Xbox Series X console. Prices for current Game Pass subscribers won’t take effect until August 13th, or September 13th for those living in Germany. New subscribers to Game Pass will however have to pay the new and increased prices from July 6th.
In a statement to The Verge, the Head of Communications for Xbox, Kari Perez said the following:
“We’ve held on our prices for consoles for many years and have adjusted the prices to reflect the competitive conditions in each market,”
In the UK, United States and EU, the monthly cost of a Game Pass Ultimate Membership will increase to £12.99, $16.99 and 14.99Eur respectively.
If you just have a standard Game Pass Membership then the monthly price will increase to £8.99, $10.99 and 10.99Eur respectively. The standard Game Pass membership cost will not increase in Denmark, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Chile and Switzerland.
Of course, this price increase will affect gamers who enjoy playing games via Xbox Cloud Gaming as, other than select free-to-play titles, you need a Game Pass Ultimate Membership to use the service.
Some positive news, however, is that the price of the PC Game Pass subscription will not be increasing at this time. This will come as good news for GeForce NOW users who are eagerly awaiting the arrival of PC Game Pass on to NVIDIA’s cloud gaming service.
The price of the Xbox Series X console will increase to £479.99 in the UK, 549.99Eur in the majority of European countries, CAD $649.99 in Canada, and AUD $799.99 in Australia. These prices come into effect on August 1st.
A price increase for both Game Pass and the Series X console should not really come as much of a surprise. In August of 2022, Sony announced a price increase across select territories for its PS5 console. Earlier in that same month, Meta increased the price of the Quest 2 VR Headset by £100. They have since reduced this again however as they are due to reveal of their new Meta Quest 3 Headset.
