Xbox Game Pass - The Best 'Deal' in Gaming?

Xbox Game Pass has long been labelled as ‘the best deal in gaming’, and somehow at the same time, something the industry has for some reason, decreed as ‘unsustainable’. While I would have normally have agreed with the sentiment around value, and disagreed with the sustainability part, I’m now not so sure. Earlier today Xbox revealed a complete revamp for the service, and frankly, it’s hard not to feel a little taken aback by what is an absolutely staggering increase in how much the Ultimate subscription is going to cost.

All this can be yours!

The biggest and most substantial perk to being a Game Pass subscriber is undoubtedly the Day One games. That’s everything Microsoft makes, across Xbox Game Studios, Blizzard, Bethesda and Activision, available for you on the day of release for you to play to your hearts content. It’s the headliner, the big ‘wow’. Now, for most subscribers, who I imagine are on this tier – Microsoft are now asking you to pay a whopping $360 a year for the privilege. That’s a price increase of $19.99 a month to $29.99 a month – a 50% increase in cost.

For some broader context, that’s like buying a new Xbox Series S every year, which, much like everything else related to Xbox, has seen a price increase too. At launch, the Xbox Series S cost $299.99, and was a perfectly great console for modern next-gen gaming. It’s now a $100 more, and don’t even get me started on its more powerful, older brother – an Xbox Series X is now $649.99 – it launched at $499.99.

I know Microsoft tried to pretty this all up. They’re planning 75 ‘Day One’ releases which of course will be a mixture of curated indie titles among larger releases, including their own titles. And they’re adding in a bunch of additional perks, even on lower tiers of Game Pass like unlimited Xbox Cloud Gaming, but let’s be honest about this. I don’t play Fortnite – and I never will – so bundling in the perceived ‘value’ of Fortnite Crew or some old Ubisoft games (no it’s not Ubisoft+ – they got the pricing wrong on their blog post) and trying to pass it off as a win feels instead like a swift kick to the balls.

Xbox keep making it really hard to actually like Xbox

This is Microsoft’s Xbox – a brand who’s console hardware is in third place and shows no sign of recovery.

Microsoft, who keep raising prices on Xbox hardware that is already in a death spiral.

Microsoft, a company that keeps closing studios and firing people in their thousands.

Microsoft, who quite recently triumphantly updated shareholders on record profits, of making more money than ever – including within Xbox.

They seem to just actively want to be disliked or even hated – and trust me, they are.

Xbox gets fairly rough treatment in this industry. Headlines are often framed in certain ways, to encourage ‘engagement’ and to spark argument. The majority of games media doesn’t play here, and have no attachment or nostalgia towards the brand, or its games. This time however, all criticism is very much deserved.

For me, this is arguably one of the most frustrating things – because I truly like my Xbox. I genuinely love the ecosystem in which I play my games. The benefits that Xbox provide to someone like me – a person that swaps between a PC, a console and a handheld is undeniable – Play Anywhere is awesome. I don’t want to play in a different ecosystem. As someone in the media who rarely has to buy games – I don’t want to forget what it’s like for our readers and wider community – who absolutely do have to think about how and where to spend their money.

Throw in a genuinely worthwhile feature like the experimented with but now seemingly abandoned Family Pass for that cost, and we’ve got a conversation, and while there is value if you’re a user than plays a variety of games, others are going to struggle with this new price.

Is Gaming still for ‘everyone’, or just those that can afford it?

Gaming is ever increasingly becoming a hobby that most are being priced out of, at a time where all console manufacturers are enjoying record profits. Microsoft have proclaimed repeatedly, despite wider gaming industry protestations, that Game Pass is ‘sustainable’. For the record, I think that’s true.

Instead, Microsoft are turning the screws on the last remaining Xbox faithful, a seemingly dwindling number of users who still have the passion and nostalgia for the Xbox brand – a passion that Nintendo and Sony have in spades. Instead of rewarding those users, it feels more and more like Xbox are taking them for granted, and I think that the more they push these costs on to them, the more of them they will ultimately lose.

Yes, I understand the macro-economic conditions and the reality of living in a capitalist society – I’m not naive. Nothing comes for free, and I understand that Xbox no longer feels like it can sell hardware at a loss, or even at cost. Game Pass was the best deal in gaming. But now, as many out there struggle to buy groceries for their kids, or pay their energy bills, I feel like Microsoft and Xbox need to remind themselves – wasn’t gaming meant to be for everyone?