Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes Coming Soon—Here’s How Xbox Subscription Costs Compare To PlayStation’s

Topline

Price increases are headed for Xbox Game Pass users alongside the inclusion of a new tier for the subscription service, creating key price differences between Xbox and rival gaming platform PlayStation that mark the latest price hike amid increasingly expensive subscription plans within the entertainment industry.

Key Facts

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Tangent

Users on X, formerly known as Twitter, have taken issue with the price increases and changes to the Xbox Game Pass tier system, specifically criticizing Microsoft for removing day-one games from its middle tier and making subscription changes before the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in October, which will be available to play as a day-one title. The highly anticipated first-person shooter will be available as a day-one title for PC Game Pass users, existing users of Xbox Game Pass for Console and those willing to fork over the updated $19.99 a month for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. New users on Xbox Game Pass Core and the upcoming Xbox Game Pass Standard will not have access to day-one titles, but day-one titles like Black Ops 6 and exclusive Xbox games could serve as an incentive for upgrading to Ultimate despite the price hike.

Key Background

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers make up the bulk of Game Pass users, according to The Verge, The Game Pass service as a whole had 34 million subscribers as of February and has previously been lauded as a means of having access to a library of video games both old and new without having to purchase each one. Game Pass prices first increased last year, when the Ultimate tier moved from $14.99 to $16.99 a month and the Core plan jumped from $9.99 to $10.99. PlayStation Plus users experienced their own price hike last year as well, with yearly plans surging in price. Subscription price increases have also spread across the entertainment industry in music, movie and TV streaming services. Music streamer Spotify increased prices for its plans from $1 to $3 across various tiers. Movie and TV streamers like Netflix, Amazon and Apple TV have all introduced increased costs for their services within the last year.

Further Reading

Microsoft Is Crippling The Concept Of Xbox Game Pass With New Day One Launch Restrictions (Forbes)

Microsoft is hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and launching a new ‘Standard’ tier (The Verge)