As someone who’s always gamed on the Playstation / Nintendo side of the fence, I’ve watched with some schadenfreude as XBox continues to self-sabotage itself. First they eliminated any specific reason to buy the console by putting all their exclusives on rival machines. Then they played up the fact you didn’t need to buy their consoles in all their marketing (“THIS IS AN XBOX”). Then to hammer it home, they jacked up the prices of their consoles incredibly high to seemingly discourage anybody from even thinking of buying one. The only appealing thing they had left to offer was Game Pass, and as of today they’ve broken that too.
Last month Game Pass Ultimate was $19.99. Now it’s $29.99 — an unheard-of leap of ten bucks. Microsoft justifies this by pointing out they now include Fortnite Crew, Hogwarts Legacy and other in-demand stuff, but it hasn’t cushioned the blow for many. The website page to cancel a Game Pass subscription has actually been crashing today from all the traffic. It’s hard for me to think of another service that dares to ask this much of its consumer base. Only the Adobe Creative Suite fleeces its customers more.
XBox Core will remain at $9.99, but it’s been renamed XBox Essential and they aren’t kidding; you need it to play XBox online or access the cloud. Standard has been renamed Premium and its price will also remain the same — for now. Game Pass For PC users are not spared, although the leap is less: it’s now $16.49, up from $11.99.
The move may not come as a surprise to those in the gaming industry. Developers have bad-mouthed Game Pass for quite a while, stating it’s an unsustainable scheme that will eventually collapse without Microsoft pouring infinite money into it. Today was the first real sign they may be right. As it was, Game Pass offered way more than its subscription price covered, and it may not even cover it now. More trouble may be ahead.
The charade is over. It’s now cheaper to buy games individually instead of pipe them into your house for a blanket fee. And not to be a scold, but that’s what you should’ve been doing anyway. “But how will I know which ones I like?” you say…..read the reviews. Watch Twitch and YouTube videos. You never needed Game Pass, and you’ll soon discover you’re better off without it.
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