When something seems almost too good to be true, it often becomes a fleeting reality. That’s exactly the vibe we got with Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass when the Xbox Series X/S was released. It offered an amazing selection of games, including those published by Microsoft on release day, all for a mere ten bucks a month.
Fast forward a few years, and those prices started creeping up, though it coincided with global economic turbulence post-covid. By 2023, the Game Pass for console inched up to $11, and the Ultimate version, which includes PC games, saw an increase of two dollars to $16.99. Surprisingly, these hikes felt somewhat reasonable, even though they happened around the time Microsoft made its jaw-dropping purchase of Activision Blizzard for $69 billion. In fact, it was just slightly below inflation.
Then came 2024, and the news wasn’t quite so rosy. In July, Microsoft announced the Game Pass Ultimate would jump from $17 to $20, marking a hefty 18 percent hike, rocketing past inflation rates. Even more frustrating was Microsoft’s decision to nix the budget-friendly $11 console-only tier. In its place, a new Game Pass Standard tier emerged, stripped of day-one releases and priced at a hefty $15. Can you believe it? Nearly a 50-percent increase for significantly less!
Ultimately, for gamers who relied on Game Pass to enjoy the full library and day-one Microsoft games, the cost surged from $11 to $20 a month. This time, with that colossal $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal finalizing, one couldn’t help but feel it had a hand in this decision.
By 2024, what was once a fantastic deal turned into something a tad burdensome, climbing to a staggering $240 annually, without any annual discount. And, honestly, it’s a bit of a letdown. – John Walker
