The rumor that has been going around for so long over the past few months has finally come true. Microsoft will increase the price of its Xbox Game Pass video game subscription service. In addition, these changes will occur sooner rather than later, so the North American company’s plans include renewing all its subscriptions as soon as possible and incorporating a new service that has certain limitations for accessing video games, since it intends to be contracted by casual players.
It is not surprising that this type of event occurs, as we have seen on numerous occasions how streaming platforms, both for video and music, have also decided to raise the cost of their subscriptions. And this same thing is happening in the video game sector.
We already saw how Sony made a 180-degree turn to make substantial changes to its business and implement the same mechanics as Microsoft to offer games to its users through a subscription plan, with the consequent increase in prices. Now, after a long period without changing the cost, those in Redmond have decided that the only way to sustain their video game streaming service is to go through the increase in Xbox Game Pass rates.
Why is Microsoft raising Xbox Game Pass prices?
As we have mentioned before, the video game company has maintained its prices for many years, leaving behind the attempt to raise them, as its direct competition did. But it is not always possible to maintain the same dynamic and it has opted for the inevitable.
The acquisition of the last video game developers is partly to blame. The almost 70 billion dollars invested in Activision Blizzard in January 2022 are partly to blame, but it has also taken along the way some studios that in theory were on the right track, but that have finally ended up disappearing, as is the case of Tango Gameworks, the owners of such recognized IPs as The Evil Within or the magnificent HiFi-Rush.
Also not to be forgotten is the $7.5 billion purchase of Zenimax Media in 2021, which includes the Bethesda Softworks video game developer conglomerate. All of this has led to drastic decisions being taken within the Microsoft leadership, in addition to the aforementioned price increase.
What does the subscription landscape look like?
The variation in the cost of each of the subscriptions to the company’s streaming service will begin to take effect as of today, July 10. Therefore, new members who want to subscribe to one of the modalities offered by Xbox Game Pass will have to adjust to the following price list:
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: price increases from €14.99 to €17.99 per month.
- Xbox Game Pass Core: price increases from €59.99 to €69.99 per year.
- PC Game Pass: price increases from €9.99 to €11.99 per month.
Microsoft has also said that those who are currently subscribed to one of these plans will not see these changes introduced until September 12.
Finally, it has been made official that a Standard membership will be implemented in the coming months, which will cost 14.99 euros per month and will offer the same benefits as Xbox Game Pass Core, with access to online play and hundreds of games from the Game Pass library. However, the difference is that Standard will not include Day 1 releases, so you will not be able to play Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on its first day of release.
