What the HELL is going on with Xbox Game Pass?
Microsoft Xbox has announced massive changes to Xbox Game Pass. Let’s talk about it.
~~SOURCES~~
xbox gamepass price bump announcement – https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/10/01/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-premium-essential-plans/
45 new games added to xbox gamepass premium – https://www.ign.com/articles/microsoft-just-added-over-45-new-games-to-xbox-game-pass-including-hogwarts-legacy-and-ubisofts-back-catalog-heres-the-full-list
xbox gamepass subscription cancel page reported down – https://www.reddit.com/r/TwoBestFriendsPlay/comments/1nvgq8k/the_webpage_for_canceling_xbox_game_pass/
costco no longer selling xbox consoles – https://www.thegamer.com/costco-retailer-xbox-series-x-s-microsoft-gaming-no-longer-sold-confirmation/
xbox flees europe – https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/06/microsoft-planning-to-restructure-xbox-distribution-in-central-europe-says-report
microsoft backs away from 80 dollar games – https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-outer-worlds-2-will-no-longer-cost-usd80-as-microsoft-backs-away-from-plans-to-follow-nintendos-lead/
gamestop selling gamepass for 20 bucks a month still – https://www.gamestop.com/gift-cards/digital-subscriptions/products/xbox-game-pass-ultimate-membership/11094793.html
2nd xbox console price increase – https://www.theverge.com/news/782079/microsoft-xbox-console-price-increase-us
As someone who has loved my Xbox consoles for a long time, I have never canceled something quicker than me canceling my gamepass subscription.
I have always been a PlayStation guy, but when PS5 came out and it was literally impossible to buy, I said f**k it and finally made the jump to PC gaming. Then I decided to get an Xbox Pass for the first time, and I was extremely impressed and still am impressed. Although I hate when something becomes more expensive like everybody else, this time I think it’s justified just for the day-one release by itself.
Ugh I play maybe a handful of games on game pass, with this hike I’d be better off just buying the games.
Never had a subscription and never will, I like to own my games not rent them
Might as well just start purchasing single games at this point
irony when Xbox players used to make fun of the price hike for plus and now the shoe is on the other foot not standing for either side but it has become a comedy show when we always make fun of the competitor and then boom lmao
Remember, Microsoft’s Director of Gaming and PLATFORM COMMUNICATIONS has all of his social media set to private. He doesn’t want to hear about or read user opinions.
I fall into that casual gamer category where I can’t justify the price for Ultimate annually for what I actually do. At $19.99, the sub was at a price point that exceeded what I would spend annually on games if I bought them BUT that I was willing to pay for the luxury to download and play games that I wanted to try out or explore. A $120 premium per year over what it was is just hard for me to justify…and I am in a fortunate position where I can afford $360/year. Still, I do not just want to give my money to Microsoft. I am with you on this 50% being a bit of an excessive surprise.
Canceled my subscription a while back, don’t regret it at all
I still use the 20 dollar a month subscription and will not change that. I only pay that for my children who play random games that I don’t want to purchase
I’ve been an Xbox player from the start, I hesitated getting game pass when it first came around. When game pass ultimate came out it seemed like a great deal; especially with the conversion stuff. Now they’ve just gone too far. Everything costs too much. I didn’t even know about the clip deletion thing until very recently. I did not get to backup anything before it was all gone. Xbox has lost me as a customer, as well as all of my friends that have been Xbox supporters from the start.
This was the last straw
I cancelled mine.
It’s not complicated at all. They are gouging consumers, and consumers are fed up with it. They deserve the negativity they are getting. And I hope it continues across all platforms.
Emulation ftw
I don’t play enough new AAA games per year across all consoles to justify gamepass’s price let alone just the games on it.
My prediction? The next Xbox will be diskless and require an Xbox monthly subscription to use or you’ll be subjected to advertisements every time you boot it up.
with removing the discount on top of neutering the rewards program this is going to be the Don Mattrick moment of the Series X/S Generation.
The Rewards program used to be awesome with tons of quests and now you just play random games for 15 minutes for a whole 5pts. Limited to 8 a month. Whoooooo.
Microsoft is done as far as I’m concerned, between the Xbone and Windows bs.
We spend sometime 60$ and more a week back in. Games back in 2019/2024/2025 any time 30 a month is nothing for all games you get
I like to use game pass to play cod zombies every now and then. Today they as,ed me to pay just over a third of the price to play the game for a month… never will I subscribe again. I’ll just buy my games out right to save hundreds of dollars
I think it’s fine they increased the price. That means I just see less poor people on there. I really don’t like poor people and they don’t deserve anything nice. I’m fine with everything going up. We need to price out the undesirable people. Which are all poor and annoying. It’s nice going out and not seeing the mass amount of people out there. Hopefully everything keeps going up and up. I would love to see the demise of the middle class. All my competitors would be gone. I love to laugh at people in the supermarket when they leave stuff because they can’t afford it. This wont affect me in the slightest. Keep crying poor people. $360 a year is ironic too. Xbox has a product for you poor people and it called Xbox 360.
I only play rocket league with the occasional download when I see something interesting but it’s not that often.
For me the 20$ isn’t a lot of money at all and I get the convenience of just getting whatever is there whenever I want it. But honestly, I’m not really taking advantage of it so they’re just getting free money from me. So with the increase, that’s where I’m drawing the line. I might even get myself a PC next.
Not even close to worth it anymore there’s barely any good games on game pass
I just purchased the 3 month essential and it won’t let me play any games on live now.. it says active but nothing works.. this sucks
I had a Game Pass card lined up to auto renew BUT the update erased it. I am irritated.
I cancelled my subscription. Despite enjoying the ability to sample a plethora of games, I wasn’t finishing enough of them as I felt less invested knowing that there were so many to try.
Make s3nse it was low and giving free games.thw where day one released yeah 20 was low 30 is not bad if they keep giving free games
3:09- not mentioning Far Cry here is Far Cry erasure and I’m triggered 😢
Those Assassins creeds were free for Xbox gold. But most games I got for free from gold says I don’t own them. Which I didn’t pay for em soooo alwel
One could question whether other companies raising prices for their games *cough, cough Nintendo cough cough* led to this. A lot of gaming channels on youtube said that they were setting a dangerous precidence. What they did shows that they can increase the price and people will still pay it. If one company sets an example and it creates a boom in revenue itd be stupid for another one to not try it. Cause lets face it there are a ton of Nintendo fanboys/fangirls who still bought the overpriced switch 2 and the over priced digital games that go with it. And there are probably the same die hard fans for xbox. Sure they will lose a bunch of subscribers but how many are going to stay? How many stayed for Nintendo and bought the switch 2 and digital games to go with it? Best way i can put it is its like having 2 gas stations across the street from each other their price for gas at one is going to go up if the other one does and the same is true if one lowers the price for gas. Its business. Is it always fair to us the consumers no. But as long as one can get away with it everyone will think they can.
I see everyone talking about the price increase but no one saying anything about the 100$ worth of points. Essentially if you maximize that you only have a 20 dollar increase
just canceled my subscription. im not giving these greedy fuckers anymore of my money
I canceled right when I heard about it. For me, its not even about the 30$, I "can" afford it. However, Im lucky to boot up my Xbox once a week and play for an hour. I was fine with paying 20$ because, despite my lack of time invested, it still felt like a good value. 30$, to me, is too much for what the service provides, and I would more than likely come to that conclusion even if I played more regularly.
You can still drive a classic car from the past. Why can’t I play my favorite games from the past? I bought a series X and the disc drive crapped out within the year of my purchase. I will no longer buy Microsoft game products. You lost Microsoft, Sony wins
A couple things
– the website "crashed" on purpose. They gave you angry fanboys time to calm down and then forget to cancel. And it worked.
– not including all the stupid things Xbox has done lately, strictly talking about the price hike, you are getting $80 games for $30 a month…..if you can afford that then u don’t game. The value of getting like 5 of those new games equals what you would pay for them separately.
Im starting to treat my gamepass membership like big backs treat gym memberships i pay for it but i dont think i even use it. Ngl im gonna cancel only thing on there worth playing is Clair obscur and i beat it 3 times and hollow knight but tbh i can buy all the games i like on game pass and it would still cost less then 360 a year. I have been with xbox since the original but even i am having a hard time defending this company anymore. Buy a PC all consoles are trash now
Yeah, cancelling it.
Never used it, never will lmfao 🤣 😂
All the "new" games i already own. So im canceling. There is no way im paying 30 bucks for their greed.
Update. Done. And im even going to save money!!
I canceled my shit this morning Ubisoft is a joke….I don’t even play fortgay 300$ plus a year for games you don’t own and it’s games we already own or don’t even want.if it was the TRANSFORMERS WAR FOR CYBERTRON OR FALL OF CYBERTRON THEN I BE SOLD ON IT ALL DAY.
What the actual f***?! Screw them for this. Seriously. We already can’t afford life as it is. You want us to pay more?! F*** you and your stupid corperate A***s. This is part of why so many people are rebelling so hard. You just keep taking more and more until we have nothing left, and then you continue to ask for more…
I cancelled as soon as the price increase was announced. I’ve had game pass for years and I’m done.
Will someone please think of the shareholders!
For $360 a year I’m cancelling my membership. For me it’s more expensive now than just purchasing the 2-3 games a year I get
Pro tip sell your series x less than a year after it’s release, abandon a whole previous gens library of digital games. Take a 2 year break from gaming, see how the landscape unfolds, buy a ps5 and don’t look back.
It will take a new console dropping with at least 5 unbelievably good games doing something nothing else can do in the console sphere for me to even consider xbox ever again. Sure I can always play those digitally purchased games on pc, but that’s the point… there is no point owning an xbox and zero incentive to anytime in the near future.
Gamepass generally sucks and is full of mostly old ass titles or indie shit 99% will have little to no interest in.
The series x is a fully capable machine, it’s a shame they presented the brand as learning from past mistakes, only to then literally sleep in that solid hardware and do fuck all with it.
I canceled it 2 months ago and don’t even care 😂
This was the last straw for me from this company. From mid-level hardware, lack of good first-party games, trying to follow the $80 pricing, to this. I’m done. I’m already a PC player thru-n-thru. I had the console for my kid mostly. He’s 10 and shown interest in getting into PC gaming after watching me. I’ll spend less money updating my old gaming laptop and giving him access to my Steam library than sticking with XBox.
I think Black Ops 6 losing Xbox 3 billion dollars is why they are raising the price and hoping more people will buy the games instead of playing them on Game Pass
In Mexico they double the price.
10 dollars more isn’t 50 percent it’s 25% but it’s still a lot