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- Xbox has backtracked on its day-one games promise with Game Pass.
- The service is no longer an affordable option for those on a tight budget.
- More price hikes are expected in the future, which would ruin the subscription’s image further.
I’ve never been a huge fan of subscriptions in the gaming industry. Until a few years ago, my only real exposure to these services was with Xbox Live Gold and PS Plus, two mandatory services unlocking access to online gameplay.
Needless to say, I was never fond of Xbox and PlayStation locking online gameplay behind a paywall. It rubbed me the wrong way that something so basic required paying monthly or yearly, but at least the free games added more value beyond the online gameplay access.
Fast forward to 2018, and Microsoft completely revolutionized the gaming subscription with Xbox Game Pass. For a measly cost of $10 each month, gamers could access big AAA titles day and date, unlock a slew of new possibilities.
Unfortunately, Game Pass today is a mere shadow of its former self. Following a series of price hikes, the service is more expensive than ever, and I think it has officially lost its entire appeal to me after the latest overhaul.
Why it matters: Microsoft invested billions of dollars into the service and attempted to place it at the forefront of the Xbox brand itself. Unfortunately, the gaming giant seems to have abandoned the core values of this subscription.
The Day-One Promise
Unlike other gaming subscriptions, Game Pass was sold on a very simple promise. Sure, it unlocked access to a slew of classic titles, Xbox Live Gold, and even EA Play, depending on the tier, but the main appeal was always built on the promise of day-one titles.
Between Doom: The Dark Ages, Starfield, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, and Forza Horizon 5, the gaming giant has more than lived up to this promise over the last few years. I sure loved the fact that I could play Doom: The Dark Ages and Black Ops 6 for less than a quarter of their launch price, but it seems this deal was always too good to be true.
Following Microsoft’s latest revision, day-one games are limited to just Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. In my opinion, this decision goes against the core philosophy of Microsoft’s subscription platform.
It would be one thing if Microsoft raised prices across the board, but it simply removed day-one access to first-party games from everything but the Ultimate tier. I don’t think I can trust this service the same moving forward.
It should also be noted that this isn’t the first time Microsoft has walked back on its day-one promise. The gaming giant previously introduced Game Pass Core, a tier that belonged to the service in name only.
Now that PC Game Pass is also being hidden and day-one games are no longer the main part of this service, I can even see a future where Microsoft completely does away with this practice altogether.
Sources have already confirmed that Xbox has lost money on games like Black Ops 6 due to the day-one practice, and it’s only a matter of time before these losses grow out of hand and force Microsoft to pivot again.
No Longer Affordable To The Masses
One reason Game Pass succeeded out of the gate was its affordability. Microsoft allowed gamers to make use of a $1 trial period to access big games for a limited time of 14 days initially.
This trial aside, the standard price of $10.99/month or $9.99/month in PC Game Pass’ case was never too hard on the average gamer’s wallet, especially considering the value provided by the service.
Gamers could access day one titles like Forza Motorsport and Starfield for as little as $120/year in 2023, and many were even happy staying subscribed to support Microsoft throughout the year.
Now that the same day-one access costs a whopping $360/year on both PC and consoles, costs have basically tripled in just two years. However you put it, this is simply an obscene price hike for a service struggling to gain new customers.
PC Game Pass still exists for $16.49/month, but the way Microsoft is trying to hide its existence tells me it’s only a matter of time before this tier is permanently left behind.
In the aftermath, many die-hard Xbox fans have rushed to cancel their subscriptions.
It doesn’t help that Microsoft’s regional pricing isn’t the best either, making this price hike incredibly challenging to deal with for gamers in regions other than the US. Looking at the bigger picture, Xbox Game Pass is no longer an affordable option to access AAA titles and other perks at a monthly cost.
As it stands, I think most gamers would be better off purchasing games upfront and waiting for sales on their most anticipated releases.
The Future?
Looking at the situation, it’s hard to say whether Xbox Game Pass will truly recover from the situation. On one hand, the promise of 75 day-one games in a year is certainly enticing, but the cost hardly justifies a full year’s subscription.
Will Microsoft backtrack and introduce a potential new tier to find a middle ground between the value and cost of this service? Or will the gaming giant simply tough it out and move forward with the new structure?
What the future holds for Xbox Game Pass is anybody’s guess, but I can say one thing for sure: Microsoft just lost a huge Xbox Game Pass advocate in me, and I have no doubt the same is the case for many other Xbox fans.
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[News Reporter]
Avinash is currently pursuing a Business degree in Australia. For more than three years, he has been working as a gaming journalist, utilizing his writing skills and love for gaming to report on the latest updates in the industry. Avinash loves to play action games like Devil May Cry and has also been mentioned on highly regarded websites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameRant, Dualshockers, CBR, and Gamespot.
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