With the fairly recent purchase of Activision Blizzard and the shuttering of studios like Tango Gameworks and Arkane Austin, it felt like a price increase for Xbox Game Pass was on the cards. It was reported earlier this year that a price increase and potential tier change was in the works thanks to Call of Duty, and it now seems like that day has finally arrived.
Windows Central was the first to publish the confirmed details, after Xbox users began receiving emails about the pricing and structure changes, as the price of both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass is set to rise. At the moment, the cost of a Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription will set you back $16.99 a month, but this change will increase that to $19.99. Similarly, PC Game Pass will be going from $9.99 to $11.99 a month.
Alongside the news of this price increase, Xbox has also revealed that a new tier is coming, one which will allow players to access to the service's wide catalog of games, but won't include day one releases or cloud gaming. This new tier is called Xbox Game Pass "Standard" and will set you back $14.99 a month, and will also include Xbox Game Pass Core, which replaced Xbox Live Gold earlier this year and allows users to play online titles.
Xbox Game Pass Is Getting A Price Increase And New "Standard" Tier
Congrats if you're still with me, but things are only going to get more confusing from here on. Alongside this announcement, Xbox has also explained it will be scrapping the current Xbox Game Pass tier for new users only, essentially replacing it with Xbox Game Pass Standard. Those of you that already have subscriptions will be able to keep them, as well as day one titles, but if you unsubscribe at any point, you'll need to resubscribe with Xbox Game Pass Standard or Ultimate.
This price increase will go into effect on September 12, though details on which regions will be hit first are still unclear. At the moment, it appears as though both the United States and Canada will see price increases in September, though we're still waiting to hear whether it's being rolled out gradually or if it's a worldwide increase. Either way, this is now your two-month window to decide whether Xbox Game Pass is still worth it for you, and if not, then go and cancel your subscription sooner rather than later.
