The Game Pass Price Hike Hides Another Reality: The Inevitable Decline of Subscription Services

Microsoft has announced a price increase for Game Pass that has surprised the industry and gamers. The announcement has also made some very unpopular decisions public, such as limiting day-one releases to the highest-priced tiers. This unexpected move from Microsoft also reveals a series of conditions in the industry that should be analyzed, as they will affect new customers.

What does the new Game Pass include and what doesn't it include? The new terms are so confusing that Microsoft published several FAQs to explain them. Basically, these are the key points.

• All plans will see price rises. For example, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase from $16.99 to $19.99 monthly. This price change began for new subscribers on July 9 and will go into effect for existing members in September.
• Xbox Game Pass for Console, a cheaper alternative to Game Pass Ultimate that didn’t include PC games or EA Play titles, is being discontinued. Game Pass Standard ($14.99 monthly) will replace this plan for new users. Xbox Game Pass console users can keep it with no change in price only if they have auto-renew enabled.
• The new Game Pass Standard doesn’t include new day one games, which will arrive a few months later. Day one is now exclusive to the PC and Ultimate plans.
• According to Windows Central, Game Pass for PC will increase from $9.99 to $11.99 and will continue to receive day one games. The company has also debuted a new Game Pass Core plan, which features a significantly reduced library of games and no monthly payment. Microsoft hasn’t announced an option beyond the annual fee. Basically, Microsoft created this plan for those who are only interested in online gaming.

These are the company’s new plans:

Undoubtedly, the most drastic decision is the disappearance of day one releases, which will now only be accessible through Game Pass Ultimate and PC, creating a sort of “two-speed Game Pass.”

This is a setback for the popularity of Game Pass. At this point, it seems like Game Pass has been around forever, so much so that it’s already shed “the Netflix of video games” moniker and simply become known Game Pass. However, when Sony launched its subscription service, it defined it as “the Game Pass of PlayStation.” And while Game Pass’ extensive library of more than 400 games was essential for the hardcore gamer, the day one game releases made Game Pass popular.

That ends, however, unless you accept the price hike from $16.99 to $19.99. If you want to stick with the old $16.99 price, there’s the new Game Pass Standard option, which only costs $14.99. It keeps the library but removes the day one games. It’s, virtually, a $3 increase. The price changes led to a criticism over the evolution of the service, revealing the greatest sin of the current entertainment industry: being risk-averse.

COD is coming. Microsoft, moreover, made this decision at a delicate time: a few months before the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 6. The bestseller will arrive in October, which, with a launch on the platform from day one, would have catapulted Game Pass subscriptions. The decision to reserve big games exclusively to those that pay more detonates Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer’s insistence that gamers come first, which is why Game Pass made it easier to play on screens beyond Xbox and PC, such as Android devices.

It’s not just that some voices claiming that the Game Pass model was unsustainable from the start may have been right—starting with those who made their business calculations to rivals like PlayStation. That said, Game Pass was a wonderful way to enter the world of video games, with an unrivaled repertoire of hits and classics. It isn’t that $3 now make too much of a difference, but Microsoft’s policy is still worrying.

The PC question. Or maybe Microsoft still likes video games. It’s Xbox that it doesn't like anymore. Its decision to make Game Pass a much cheaper option for PC is significant, especially when it doesn’t force you to pay, like Core subscribers do on the console, just to play online. And it will keep day one releases for $100 less a year. The not-so-good sales of the console, which are already well behind the PlayStation and the Xbox One itself, suggest that Microsoft is rethinking much of its strategy.

A rotten economy. Noted tech PR Ed Zitron uses the term “rotten economics” in his newsletter to describe the trend in the technology industry where products no longer must be good; they just have to make companies more money. Riley MacLeod, editor and co-owner of the website Aftermath, said, “What matters to these people is that they can keep their offerings just functional enough to keep you paying, or, failing that, keep them just essential enough to feel like there's nowhere else to go.”

We can apply this thesis to diverse services we all have in mind. Game Pass, an essential service if you’re interested in games, comes dangerously close to that line. Microsoft doesn’t stop closing studios—the most paradigmatic, Tango Softworks, behind perhaps the best game that it's had in its catalog in years, Hi-Fi Rush—and limiting the benefits of Game Pass. This is a sign of the times, of the industry’s sinking budgets, and of the particular doubts that grip Microsoft.

Image | Microsoft

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