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[Matchew]

Yeah this sucks. However, months like October where they have 3 good games I want to play coming out. I will still sub. But, it's going to be a lot more sub to one month and cancel depending on the games.

 

[Matchew]

I do wonder what their next hardware will look like. If it's powerful and runs on the Ally Xbox OS that could still offer something to customers.

Oops sorry for the double post.

 

[Fess]

I would be shocked if they did, but you are not wrong. The damage to the brand right now is pretty massive.

If they don't correct this they won't survive until the supposed next gen launch next year. Gamepass is the only thing the brand has now to bring in more people, there is nothing else when they've gone multi, Xbox dies once Gamepass dies.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

The real crime was always MS putting up unskippable full screen ads on Xbox and their users just taking it

If Nintendo or Sony tried to do that it would probably result in a third World War. I never understood why the Xbox users just put up with that shit

 

[Iced Arcade]

Seeing a lot of folks on twitter wondering if Microsoft is going to reverse course on their changes. I don't see it happening. Does anyone think Microsoft didn't know they were going to get slammed for this?

I don't think they reverse BUT I also think they are so disconnected that they didn't think this level of negativity was going to happen.


then there is part of me that thinks they are trying to self sabotage

 

[paolo11]

I don't think they reverse BUT I also think they are so disconnected that they didn't think this level of negativity was going to happen.


then there is part of me that thinks they are trying to self sabotage

I thought of that too about the self sabotage part. Do they think more customers will be added or stay if they add the price hike?

 

[Topher]

I don't think they reverse BUT I also think they are so disconnected that they didn't think this level of negativity was going to happen.


then there is part of me that thinks they are trying to self sabotage

If they reverse then we will know it was more incompetence from Phil Spencer rather than self sabotage I guess.

The running question for years now keeps getting more and more question marks behind it: How does Phil Spencer still have a job??????????

 

[Unknown Soldier]

That something I just can't stand about MS. I have Windows 10 and they always find a way to advertise Game Pass to me. I have switched off every option relating to it and disabled Xbox and related programs - and it still happens occasionally. I heard ads are even worse with Windows 11. I would be so angry if I turned on my console and there was a full-page ad. MS has this attitude about their customers and their consumer rights that I just can't tolerate - hindering a person's experience in order to advertise to them is sign of that outlook. It makes me glad I stayed away from their gaming hardware and much more interested in Linux.

You can just disable the Windows lock screen entirely. I haven't looked at that worthless trash in a decade, it's not like the Windows lock screen does anything useful after MS abandoned their mobile efforts

 

[DeepEnigma]

If they reverse then we will know it was more incompetence from Phil Spencer rather than self sabotage I guess.

The running question for years now keeps getting more and more question marks behind it: How does Phil Spencer still have a job??????????

It's a club with select lifers, you see.

 

[Hydroxy]

Sad to say but I have officially been priced out of gamepass. I play on pc and gamepass price has been straight up doubled. I was a fan and supporter of gamepass but after this insane price hike I can't afford it anymore. I know prices always keep going up with time but straight up doubling it is just crazy.

 

[The Mad Draklor]

Seeing a lot of folks on twitter wondering if Microsoft is going to reverse course on their changes. I don't see it happening. Does anyone think Microsoft didn't know they were going to get slammed for this?

It's pretty much Microsoft's own fault for starting off with the "too good to be true" pricing and establishing false expectations. Not to mention, the ABK acquisition placed more eyeballs on the profitability of Xbox/Microsoft gaming.

 

[playbignbox]

Seeing a lot of folks on twitter wondering if Microsoft is going to reverse course on their changes. I don't see it happening. Does anyone think Microsoft didn't know they were going to get slammed for this?

They won't reverse it, they're tired of funding day one games.

 

[laynelane]

You can just disable the Windows lock screen entirely. I haven't looked at that worthless trash in a decade, it's not like the Windows lock screen does anything useful after MS abandoned their mobile efforts

The last time it was a message sent for Game Pass. I managed to get rid of everything else. I'll check into the lock screen. Thanks for the tip.

 

[mayham2199]

Sad to say but I have officially been priced out of gamepass. I play on pc and gamepass price has been straight up doubled. I was a fan and supporter of gamepass but after this insane price hike I can't afford it anymore. I know prices always keep going up with time but straight up doubling it is just crazy.

Not for PC it hasn't. It's only $16 on PC.

 

[DeepEnigma]

They won't reverse it, they're tired of funding day one games.

 

[KenaiPhoenix]

LoL, LMAO

The best thing for me was that just the day before this announcement some idiots on X started debating me when I said that GP is lost cause and MS changed the Gold to GP Core so they could show better numbers. Many people started saying to me that "GP is awesome! They are doing great you hater!"

And now they raise the money and start some aggressive campaign.

I cant be more happy for my physical collection + PS5 + PC

Oh, Xbox... how far you have fallen. And worse things are coming:

Spoiler

The "reimagination" of Halo CE

 

[GHG]

I have been excited about the streamlined version of Windows coming to gaming but I now realize this is the kind of behavior that is coming with it.

They're going to try and bring back paid online to the PC space.

I can't see a world where they are just wiling to forgo the amount they will be getting on a monthly basis from the people on the base gamepass subscription tier, all of whom are primarily subscribed to play games online.

 

[Matchew]

I don't see them ever trying to have paid online on PC. PC gamers would never go for that. Didn't they already try that with Windows Live?

These increases could be because they are about to release a PC Hardware and aren't going to have that anymore with their dedicated hardware.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I don't see them every trying to have paid online on PC. PC gamers would never go for that. Didn't they already try that with Windows Live?

They tried it once. Once.

 

[Matchew]

Yeah, that's what I thought. No way they will try that again.

 

[reinking]

They're going to try and bring back paid online to the PC space.

I can't see a world where they are just wiling to forgo the amount they will be getting on a monthly basis from the people on the base gamepass subscription tier, all of whom are primarily subscribed to play games online.

That will be crazy to watch unfold. PC gamers are not immune to subscriptions for multiplayer games but it is going to be a hard sell.

 

[Topher]

 

[reinking]

She looks like she is trying to make it sound exciting but knows it is not.

 

[Topher]

 

[The Thick Tyne]

Do people who had it before have a grandfathered in price? Or when does the new price activate? Because my PC game pass still says I'll be charged $20 next month

 

[Meowtor]

wild. ive been on game pass since release and im bouncing out now. GG microsoft.

 

[Topher]

She looks like she is trying to make it sound exciting but knows it is not.

I love how she says this is an "upgrade" based on our "feedback". Who asked for this? adamsapple was this you?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

They're going to try and bring back paid online to the PC space.

I can't see a world where they are just wiling to forgo the amount they will be getting on a monthly basis from the people on the base gamepass subscription tier, all of whom are primarily subscribed to play games online.

MS tried to force paid online for PC before and PC gamers just laughed and ignored it. MS has no platform control over PC the way they did with Xbox so it's just not going to happen

 

[Havoc2049]

I'll probably unsubscribe, or go PC only. I need to cash in my rewards first. Most of the games I want, I buy anyways, even the Microsoft ones.

 

[GHG]

MS tried to force paid online for PC before and PC gamers just laughed and ignored it. MS has no platform control over PC the way they did with Xbox so it's just not going to happen

I think they will at least attempt it in some way. They won't be as direct as they were with GFWL, but in some roundabout way they will find a way to try and justify it, even if its only for the remaining console guys that they still need to transition over to windows.

 

[Havoc2049]

BTW, this is beyond horrible timing, right when launching a new handheld.

 

[Mr Moose]

BTW, this is beyond horrible timing, right when launching a new handheld.

They aren't launching a new handheld, ASUS are.

 

[salva]

My ultimate subscription I've had since 2019 expires March 2026.
I won't be renewing at these prices unless another Turkey VPN type bargain arises. Which I highly doubt...
I can't complain, I've paid peanuts for it over the years and played so many games!

 

[VGA-Games]

I personally still believe that XBox Game Pass at $30,00 Dollars is still a good Value considering all the Video Games you're able to Play.

But I'm a Physical Games Guy so nowadays I don't care about Microsoft and XBox Game Pass.

 

[Nicktendo86]

So my monthly price is going from £15 to £22?! I only have a Xbox one, not a series x and barely play it now and could just about justify the sub to jump in and out from time to time. £22 a month is just unjustifiable, will prob have to cancel. Absolutely insane.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

 

[xrnzaaas]

They will. For double-dipping. As per usual.

Yup, that's what I was going for. Same way they'll release the next next gen version for PS6 hoping people will buy it again.

So they really shouldn't complain about Xbox as a console becoming less relevant, they have options and just not taking them.

 

[BizarroPete]

Do people who had it before have a grandfathered in price? Or when does the new price activate? Because my PC game pass still says I'll be charged $20 next month

New price for current subscribers starts November 4th.

 

[havoc00]

RIP

 

[Edgelord79]

Ya no.

 

[Klayzer]

The real crime was always MS putting up unskippable full screen ads on Xbox and their users just taking it

If Nintendo or Sony tried to do that it would probably result in a third World War. I never understood why the Xbox users just put up with that shit

Xbox fans, seemingly never give negative feedback towards Microsoft. Though, the pendulum has swung in the opposite direction now.

 

[playbignbox]

They aren't launching a new handheld, ASUS are.

And they partnered with Asus before dropping this bomb lol

 

[lachesis]

Well, it's been a good run. No more for me.
I had the $1 trick for maximum + a couple years at discounted price... but not going to renew when the sub goes up in November.
I may just opt out for PC game pass - but even that - gamepass games on PC seem to have worse version/build vs same game vs Steam - even the MS first party games.
And as with everything - the price will go up every once in a while, not down... so not worth it.

But it "was" the best deal in gaming when the price was low. Oh well. Not anymore.

 

[RCX]

I would have killed to experience Game Pass at $30 when I was younger. Nowadays, I have to force myself to finish games—but I can see a lot of younger people finding real value in the Game Pass library with all the free time and lack of responsibilities.

Except major publishers have all said that playtime on GP is lower than paid players. They have a buffet to pick from and get into a rhythm of simply sampling everything for a short time.

Theyve taken full size meals and turned them into chewing gum.

 

[demigod]

Well, it's been a good run. No more for me.
I had the $1 trick for maximum + a couple years at discounted price... but not going to renew when the sub goes up in November.
I may just opt out for PC game pass - but even that - gamepass games on PC seem to have worse version/build vs same game vs Steam - even the MS first party games.
And as with everything - the price will go up every once in a while, not down... so not worth it.

But it "was" the best deal in gaming when the price was low. Oh well. Not anymore.

Playing PC games without the ability to mod is a crime.

 

[YeulEmeralda]

Where did you read that? PS4 was like 9-11 games.

Ah I must have misremembered. That's even worse. What is GamePass even for then? Access to 1000 games nobody even plays.

 

[mayham2199]

Ah I must have misremembered. That's even worse. What is GamePass even for then? Access to 1000 games nobody even plays.

I don't know. I honestly don't know how MS looked at stats liked that and thought gamepass would even work if they have to raise the price this much. Keeping it in the 1 to 2 games a year price (140/yr) made sense. Raising it this high doesn't make sense anymore. Especially when you add in the fact that most of the top played games are completely free. I always doubted game pass would work but I figured if they are doing it then maybe Xbox knows something I don't but I guess they didn't and just took a chance.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Ah I must have misremembered. That's even worse. What is GamePass even for then? Access to 1000 games nobody even plays.

Same problem cable TV had. 500 channels and people only watched like 4, and of those 4 the top 2 were ESPN and ESPN2

 

[Three]

I think these price hikes are working as planned.

There's no way they didn't know what they are doing, they want to shock their consumers into buying games again.

They know what they're doing but it's not for shock value to get them to switch (some will though due to the cost not being good). Its what we discussed months and months ago in this thread regarding what they would do if they failed:

They've reworked it already for their console userbase to a point where standard gamepass misses out on most of the releases and you need to pay for the $20 tier to access games, even third party releases that aren't day 1. Once or rather if they achieve a similar market adoption on PC they're likely to try and push those people over to the more expensive tier too. They will never shut down a $2B in revenue venture even if profit is low or nonexistent. You're better off having that and slowly turning that into margins (cutting operating cost and increasing price) than shutting it down.

They kind of failed to gain a large userbase and now they're milking their current userbase for their cash as best they can.

 

[IFireflyl]

Ozzy Onya A2Z , I'm just curious if you think that the current pricing is only due to inflation or not. Since this conversation:

• Xbox Game Pass Core/Essential - 66.6% price increase, stopped including first party titles on release date, and massively restricted the amount of playable titles.
• Xbox Game Pass Standard/Premium - New tier priced much higher than the original base tier, stopped including first-party titles on release date, and greatly restricted the amount of playable titles. Basically a 199.8% price increase from the time of this old conversation if you're comparing Xbox Game Pass Core in 2023 to Xbox Game Pass Premium in 2025.
• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate - 76.52% price increase, and anyone who wants full access to game library and day-and-date titles must subscribe to this plan.
• PC Game Pass - Deceased.

According to online inflation calculators, the cumulative inflation between your post and this one is 6.3%. I don't know about you, but a price increase ranging from 66.6% to 199.8% feels like a tad more than a simple inflationary increase. Also, two-thirds of what I said back in February of 2023 came to pass. They massively increased prices since then. They also drastically reduced the available content, including no longer offering day one access to first-party titles, for two-thirds of the available Xbox Game Pass tiers.