Xbox Game Pass Subscribers Slam “Embarrassing” Price Increase

Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are both seeing price increases on July 6. It’s the first time since its inception Xbox Game Pass will increase in price. Microsoft shared this news earlier this week, noting the standard version is increasing from $9.99 a month to $10.99 a month, while the Ultimate tier will increase from $14.99 a month to $16.99 a month. The combination of the minuscule increase and the fact that this is the first increase so far was enough to keep most Xbox Game Pass subscribers pacified. However, some subscribers have been less understanding. While inflation and other various economic factors ensured this was inevitable, some Game Pass subscribers can’t help but notice this come right as, in their opinion, the quality of the subscription service has dipped.

Over on the Xbox Game Pass Reddit page, the number one comment on a post relaying the news, which is to say the comment with the most votes up, says “expected but still sad, especially since in my humble opinion the quality of the service got worse.” Not only do the metric ton of votes up the comment got signal many agree with this sentiment, but many of the other comments echo the sentiment as well. 

“Game Pass was a great deal, especially if you have PC to go with the xbox selection, but three months of indies and games like Redfall, with the one or two bangers sprinkled in isn’t going to cut it for nearly $20 a month,” reads one of the additional comments. “At that rate, it makes more sense to cut the sub on and off depending on what gets added. Just my two cents.”

“It’s crazy how they have the audacity to raise prices with the embarrassing offerings they’ve been adding,” adds a second comment. 

So far, the criticism of the price increase has been sparse enough that it hasn’t drawn any type of response from Xbox. You may think they would never comment or walk back the decision purely because of fan feedback, but that’s exactly what they did the last time they tried to increase the price of Xbox Live Gold. Everyone got angry, and then Xbox reverted on the decision. The key that time though was “everyone.” The Game Pass price increase has not evoked the same response.