[Windows Central] $30 a month for Ultimate — I don’t think Game Pass is worth it anymore
- Thread starter LectureMaster
- Start date
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diablos991
Can’t stump the diablos
Cancelled my pc subscription. Value just isn't there at $17 per month
Tobimacoss
Member
Yep, that was a 2:1 ratio which changed to 2.5:1 now.
June 2019, with the introduction of Ultimate, to August 2023, it was 1:1 ratio.
September 2023 to September 2024, it was 3:2 ratio
Then 2:1 ratio from September 2024 to October 2025.
The new conversion ratio going forward is 2.5:1 where three years of Essential gives roughly 14.4 months Ultimate.
I personally think the lowest they could go is a 3:1 ratio, where three years only gives one year. And the highest yearly price for Essential they could go is $90 year. Even with that, it would still be worth doing the conversion.
But if you compare the pricing of Gamepass Premium to PS+ Premium, $15 vs $18 month, that is still quite comparable. Gamepass Premium would get First party games within Day 365, whereas PS+ Premium doesn't even get first party games Day 1000.
So the whole whining online is quite excessive, when there's multiple ways to get Ultimate for cheaper or just stick to Premium.
Fake
Member
I wonder if Microsoft DEI team was stupid enough to not even think about the backlash all this shit would cause. They need to make a study of cause to simulate cases like that, but I sure they don't anymore.
Talking about bad PR. They are fucking around and gonna find out very soon.
Unknown?
Member
Ah yes, worth the $540 going forward. All of those games and any going forward will not cost 18 months of gamepass.
StreetsofBeige
Member
Right off the bat for any sub plan (PS included), a gamer can cut the fees in half as well as share games. All they got to do is find one friend or fam member to split it. Every sub plan is 50% off, every $70 US game is $35.
No different Netflix when they had family plans. I only used it for a bit leaching off my bro, but years back I was the 4th person added to the profile. I think I gave my bro $50 for the year as my share. Why pay full price as a loner when you can share costs.
I guess some people are loners. lol. And some people wonder why things seem so expensive and they are broke.
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Nydius
Member
Is it really "entitlement" when the then-CEO of Xbox was explicitly on the public record saying the ABK acquisition wouldn't cause Game Pass price increases?
I mean, yeah, most of us who have rational thought knew that was a load of horseshit but this was the highest ranked guy in the Xbox brand saying it. So a lot of people were inclined to believe him, not just the shills.
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Kagoshima_Luke
Gold Member
That's it, sub cancelled. I've spent way too much on this already.
EverydayBeast
ChatGPT 0.001
It's clear how Microsoft views gamers
Almost a thousand for the handheld device, unfortunate pay raise on the console and now game pass having its moment.
Almost a thousand for the handheld device, unfortunate pay raise on the console and now game pass having its moment.
Fess
Member
Ah, understood.I game on PlayStation, if a game is on both and it's a "big game" I prefer to buy it on PlayStation than "play it free", Indiana was the last example I did of that. The only two games I've played on xbox in last 2 years are atomic heart, and the alters. Yet I just kinda keep the sub there "because I might use it", same with my gym membership, when I've not been since covid.
For reference the last month has been:
Death stranding 2
The alters
Cronos
Currently playing baby steps, then once I'm back from a week of conferences either hell is us or Yōtei , so I do play a lot for a married 40+ yr old
I play on PC and have the living room PC setup with Playnite with the Gamepass library right in the menu. So I use it a lot. For me Gamepass is already merged into everything, I just go through a giant games list and click install and play, everything from Steam and Gamepass and Epic and so on starts from the same menu. Paying extra at that point seems dumb tbh.
I also prepaid the subscription so it's not about keeping the sub because I might use it, it's already an investment of sorts.
But my cheap sub ends soon so then it becomes a different beast all together. Minimum price increase is
edit, minimum 3x price increase……
And $30/month is just to much imo. Would literally be my most expensive subscription plan besides having internet and a mobile phone. Everything else in my life with monthly set payments is less expensive.
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I'm nobody
Member
Ms will back down with this price it's a publicly stunt
30 a month is the cost of my maid for cleaning I could sack her and learn to clean my self but I have too many games to play
30 a month is the cost of my maid for cleaning I could sack her and learn to clean my self but I have too many games to play
nial
Gold Member
The fuck do DEI teams have to do with this?
ChorizoPicozo
Member
do you have a seat?
ChorizoPicozo
Member
If they shut down GP they shut down Xbox.
DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
This is how I see it. They will never quit anything but organically destroy it slowly until people stop caring then they try and quietly sunset it.
I enjoyed it while It lasted but it's funny that it's not even phasing me. Happy to have got my money's worth and I'll just move on.
Too many good games available in many ways.
Satya is pulling the plug on Xbox, but a slow controlled death.
For the first time, I’m questioning if Game Pass is worth it after the $30 Ultimate hike
With a 50% increase, I'm questioning the value of my subscription for the first time.www.windowscentral.com
Here's where things get painful. Game Pass Ultimate, which previously cost $19.99 a month in the U.S, is bumping up to $29.99. Lest we forget, they already bumped the price from $16.99 to $19.99 back in September last year.
So that is a 50% increase. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bundles everything: console, PC, day-one releases, Call of Duty, Ubisoft+, EA Play, Fortnite Crew, and cloud gaming with 1440p resolution and boosted bitrate. For those that care, and I do not. My colleague Samuel Tolbert made a good point that there are plenty of casual players that will appreciate it, but at the cost of the hardcore audience?
And while Microsoft frames it as paying for "flexibility" and "value," the reality is much simpler. This is the Call of Duty tax. Premium subscribers don't get COD. PC subscribers do. And Ultimate subscribers must, because Microsoft isn't leaving a cent of that audience on the table. They are telling us this comes with a guarantee of 75+ day one game launches per year, which on the face of it sounds great, but — who has time to play and enjoy all of those games? If I were unemployed, maybe, but then I wouldn't be able to afford the Ultimate tier. Who is asking for this?
Are tariffs and inflation solely to blame?
Sarah Bond had plenty to say recently about how profitable Game Pass is for Microsoft (Image credit: Microsoft)
The official story is that tariffs, inflation, and the costs of cloud servers are forcing Microsoft's hand. But let's not pretend this is about survival. Just a few months ago, Xbox President Sarah Bond was shouting from the rooftops about how Game Pass was not just sustainable but profitable, generating a staggering $5 billion in revenue last year.
So, forgive me if I don't buy the line that Microsoft is raising prices because they have no choice. $5 billion wasn't enough? Apparently not. Because Satya Nadella needs to feed the beast after greenlighting that $69 billion Activision Blizzard acquisition. You don't spend that much and then shrug when the bill comes due. Someone has to foot the tab. It's you, me, and anyone else who wants to squad up in Call of Duty without forking over $79.99 up front. Remember, game prices went up this year, too?
The value paradox
Xbox Game Pass is chock full of bangers like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but for $360 a year I may as well purchase those games. (Image credit: Windows Central)
So where does that leave us? On paper, Xbox Game Pass is still the best deal in gaming. You're drowning in value across all four tiers, with more bundled services than most players can realistically use. But the psychology here matters.
When a subscription crosses into "ouch" territory, people start doing the math. And for Ultimate at $29.99, that math gets uncomfortable fast; it certainly has for me, as I can't see the value in the increase for me personally. Here's where my personal experience with Game Pass starts to collide with Microsoft's pricing strategy.
Imagine going to buy a car for £10,000. That's your budget. You find the exact model you want. Then the dealer says: "We don't stock that one anymore, but we do have this £15,000 version, and it comes with heated seats!"
I don't want warm buttocks. I want the car I had, at the price I had. That's exactly how Ultimate feels to me now. Microsoft is charging $29.99 a month for perks that I frankly don't care about: Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, and "boosted cloud streaming." Sure, they're nice, but they're not the reasons I signed up for Game Pass. The "heated seats" are irrelevant if I didn't need them in the first place.
The games that truly defined my 2025 Game Pass experience weren't the AAA blockbusters. They were smaller, lower-priced gems. Clair Obscur and Blue Prince. Clair Obscur launched around $49.99 at retail, and Blue Prince at $30. These are the games I played obsessively, the ones I loved. Meanwhile, the AAA juggernauts like Call of Duty just didn't hold my attention.
So when Microsoft suddenly ups the price of Ultimate by 50% to subsidize all these extras I don't want, the math stops adding up for me. I'm paying for a buffet of content where I only eat one or two items. Game Pass is still objectively loaded with content, but the content I actually value isn't aligned with the new cost.
Phil Spencer notoriously said Game Pass isn't for everyone, and I'm not sure it will be for me anymore when my subscription ends (thankfully, I am paid up to September 2026).
Yes, Game Pass is still "worth it" compared to buying every major release outright. But it's no longer the "too good to be true" deal that made Xbox the scrappy underdog of the console wars. Now it feels corporate and very much like a trillion-dollar company squeezing its most loyal fans because it can.
well holy shit the Simps are falling out of love with the Xbox
Crayon
Member
idk why that would be. GP has hurt xbox in some ways. Besides, xbox is morphing into a sort of microsoft gaming thing. A platform more in the mold of steam. No reason to be devaluing the expensive new releases on a subscription that has been going nowhere.
Kenneth Haight
Gold Member
Thanks Jez, appreciate you letting me know it's now an unacceptable price.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
Well, before considering itself as an AI company, MS was also considered as a "service'" company too.
MS doesn't give a flying fuck about video games. They don't value the art form, nor do they see games as part of the entertainment industry. For MS, video games are just software with a practical function within the company.
Engagement, MAU, Cloud implementation, subscriptions... AI.
Microsoft doesn't really have an incentive to stay in the video game industry once their AI ambitions in this area falter... Videogame production for MS is such and annoyance and inconvenience.
Tobimacoss
Member
Jez didn't write the article.
Thanks Jez, appreciate you letting me know it's now an unacceptable price.
You could've probably bought Hogwarts Legacy for cheaper then a month of gamepass in some places.
kriolo
Member
They lose money on gamepass they win money selling Microsoft games on ps5 and pc.Evolve GP launch a lot of games on all platforms including Nintendo and exit console hardware to Just focus on partnership with Xbox brand with 3rd party pc brands.Bye bye Microsoft console hello Microsoft publisher+ gaming service provider.Makes sense , focus on your profitable business and get back your money from recent shopping spree.We will still be their customers earning them more money than before and Also a lot of lower costs in the way…. Competing with Sony and Nintendo for our money is very costly,
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Tobimacoss
Member
Wait till you find out MS is making first party consoles, AND letting OEMs build third party consoles AND having OEMs build Xbox PC form factors.
It's not an either or situation, MS is doing it all. Publish everywhere, enhance Gamepass, still make hardware. It's trying to complete the ecosystem with 4 pillars of gaming.
PC | Console | Cloud | Mobile
With PC including various form factors. A universal unified platform/ecosystem.
SenkiDala
Member
"I don't think Game Pass is worth it anymore"
No shit, and I think Hitler wasn't very kind.Jokes apart, it's nice to see that recently with the prices rises of Netflix, Disney+, Spotify, PS+, and this HUGE rise of the GP, people are finally starting to think "wai wai wait, is that worth it ? in real how many games have I completed on the GP the last year ? Let's make a list..." and finally sees that no, in 99.99% of situations it isn't worth it.
I unsubbed PS+, GP, and different movies streaming services, I'm focusing on my backlogs of all kind and it's awesome.
For GP I dunno what they're thinking... They TRULLY think they're that good ? That people wanna pay THAT MUCH to complete max 2 games per year ? They're out of their minds, they don't understand what is an hardcore gamer (someone ready to pay their games to own them and play them as much as they want), a casual gamer (someone who complete max 2 games per year + FIFA/Warzone/Fortnite), a gamer with family (has less time than before family), a teenager who have a lot of time (the parents will tell him to fuck off and to buy 3 used game a year and deal with it)... This price suits to NOBODY.
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CashPrizes
Member
It's getting to that point, where the return isn't worth it.
Only time I would say it is worth it now is to sign up for one month and then cancel immediately, if:
A. $60-$80 game you are very excited about is releasing day one on gamepass
B. You have nothing else you are playing seriously at the moment
C. You think you can beat the game in under a month
D. You don't ever plan to play the game again after beating it
So you saved $30 to $50 at the cost of not actually owning the game, but you got to beat it and if you beat it fast enough you could dabble in other games on the service.
I've never really done this, but did it on Ubisofts service for StarWars Outlaws, and years ago did it with EA for Anthem (thank goodness)
Only time I would say it is worth it now is to sign up for one month and then cancel immediately, if:
A. $60-$80 game you are very excited about is releasing day one on gamepass
B. You have nothing else you are playing seriously at the moment
C. You think you can beat the game in under a month
D. You don't ever plan to play the game again after beating it
So you saved $30 to $50 at the cost of not actually owning the game, but you got to beat it and if you beat it fast enough you could dabble in other games on the service.
I've never really done this, but did it on Ubisofts service for StarWars Outlaws, and years ago did it with EA for Anthem (thank goodness)
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Fess
Member
Now that they're a multi platform publisher, would it be possible to launch Gamepass on PlayStation 5/6 and Switch 2?
They could've tried that instead to bring in more money. Could've been a small side service outside of Xbox/PC like Ubisoft+ and EA Play. Couple millions extra subs per platform.
All they do right now is killing the service so not even fans want to pay for it.
They could've tried that instead to bring in more money. Could've been a small side service outside of Xbox/PC like Ubisoft+ and EA Play. Couple millions extra subs per platform.
All they do right now is killing the service so not even fans want to pay for it.
My hot take, yes we are live.
I honestly don't think Microsoft cares or has ever cared about gaming (outside of a few guys from the original box). It's too small for their ambition, a means to a greater end. Microsoft has always been a company who disrupts and causes chaos. Nothing more than drug dealers. Sell your product cheap or for free, present something too good to be true and get people hooked.
Microsoft will happily burn it all down and damage gaming as a whole. They couldn't beat Sony or Nintendo, so they will just scorch earth the entire industry. They don't care about the IP's they've collected or it's studios. I could even see them walking away and letting all those IPS rot.
Whatever they wanted, whatever their end game is/was is no longer viable in the gaming industry.
They certainly don't care about their loyal zealots and customers.
Microsoft,
I honestly don't think Microsoft cares or has ever cared about gaming (outside of a few guys from the original box). It's too small for their ambition, a means to a greater end. Microsoft has always been a company who disrupts and causes chaos. Nothing more than drug dealers. Sell your product cheap or for free, present something too good to be true and get people hooked.
Microsoft will happily burn it all down and damage gaming as a whole. They couldn't beat Sony or Nintendo, so they will just scorch earth the entire industry. They don't care about the IP's they've collected or it's studios. I could even see them walking away and letting all those IPS rot.
Whatever they wanted, whatever their end game is/was is no longer viable in the gaming industry.
They certainly don't care about their loyal zealots and customers.
Microsoft,
GHG
Member
Are we really here comparing/equating shopping around for gamepass deals with shopping around for a mortgage?
I've said it before, and so have many others. Microsoft has a track record of raising service costs. The only thing that's somewhat surprising is the timing. ABK Aquise has obviously accelerated the pace considerably.
It's likely to be a masacre; fewer people will sign up after this price hike. I would be very surprised if Game Pass survives in its current form.
Management obviously has no idea how to deal with an emotional customer group like gamers. They don't realise that it's not just a simple Office subscription.
Also with all the economic uncertainty, it's smart to just raise prices by 50%. That really builds trust among customers
.
It's likely to be a masacre; fewer people will sign up after this price hike. I would be very surprised if Game Pass survives in its current form.
Management obviously has no idea how to deal with an emotional customer group like gamers. They don't realise that it's not just a simple Office subscription.
Also with all the economic uncertainty, it's smart to just raise prices by 50%. That really builds trust among customers
.
DirtInUrEye
Member
There's always this one comment in all internet threads.
ecosse_011172
Banned
Mine runs out next April, I still have 2 years old Turkish codes which redeem at 2:1 (one year at a time) so I have cheap Game Pass till April 2027ish it seems, unless they pull the rug out from under me.
I've been paying 40 per year since the beginning, the full prices are pretty comical.
Screw that.
I've been paying 40 per year since the beginning, the full prices are pretty comical.
Screw that.
Certinty
Member
Of course it's not worth it anymore.
Unless you're someone who plays several games on the service and would have bought a fair amount of the day one releases, you'll most definitely be better off just buying the games you want outright at this price.
I've been a subscriber since it launched what, 8 years ago? No more.
Unless you're someone who plays several games on the service and would have bought a fair amount of the day one releases, you'll most definitely be better off just buying the games you want outright at this price.
I've been a subscriber since it launched what, 8 years ago? No more.
DirtInUrEye
Member
I don't get it? A WOAMAN wrote it?
ResilientBanana
Member
Hyperbole.
KungFucius
King Snowflake
Servers for streaming and downloading. Also the tariffs are on everything and likely to hit foreign games just like foreign movies because Trump is a fucking piece of shit.
MisterXDTV
Member
Xbox Game Pass:
Essential- $119.88
Premium- $179.88
Ultimate- $359.88
PS Plus:
Essential- $79.99
Extra- $134.99
Premium- $159.99
Essential- $119.88
Premium- $179.88
Ultimate- $359.88
PS Plus:
Essential- $79.99
Extra- $134.99
Premium- $159.99
Tobimacoss
Member
Comparing Monthly pricing to Yearly pricing? Lol
Xbox Game Pass:
Essential - $80
Premium - $180
Ultimate - $180-$200 via Essential to Ultimate conversion, depending on how cheap you can acquire Essential on sales.
PS+ Extra/Premium: Zero Day One first/2nd party games, couple of day one third party games per year. Not even first party games going beyond Day 1000.
Gamepass Premium - all first/2nd party games within 365 days, the 70+ Day 1 third party games from Ultimate will be added to Premium as well, staggered additions.
Gamepass Ultimate - All MS first/2nd party games Day One, and at least 70+ Day 1 third party games every year.
Sony broke their promise of adding their games 12-18 months after release.
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reinking
Gold Member
Well…. …can you show us where GP is offering yearly pricing? Fact is, Ultimate yearly pricing is ~ $360. Day One that you are celebrating is why GP is over 2x the price of PS+. That, and pat of why we find GP getting to a point of pricing itself out of value.
Tobimacoss
Member
The Conversion process is akin to a yearly pricing for Ultimate. It's an official process created and maintained by MS for 6 years since June 2019 when Ultimate made it's debut.
Stack 3 yearly codes of Essential, then sub to Ultimate, it converts everything to Ultimate at ratio of 2.5:1. So three years of Essential gives 14.4 months Ultimate
$80+$80+$80+$30 = $270
$270/15 = $18 month
Effective rate can be as low as $14 month if Essential is acquired cheaper.
TrebleShot
Member
Still shit ain't it
Orbital2060
Member
The Xbox $360
Pancakes and Sausage
Member
$39 a month Canadian including tax
Absolutely not you retards
Absolutely not you retards
Horseganador
Member
It's just not worth it. $360 a year to rent games is too much. For that, you just buy the games you want and they're yours forever. What a rip-off to have spent years paying only to unsubscribe from the service and get nothing.
Giallo Corsa
Member
After everything that's happened these past couple of days, it somehow still comes back to Warz® and "Game Pass™, the best deal in gaming®."
Man, some of you really aren't planning on retiring from shilling anytime soon I guess.
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Orbital2060
Member
Its probably still worth it. If you add up all their day 1 games. But its not cheap anymore.