Microsoft killed Game Pass: How did gaming’s greatest deal lose its appeal?

A frenzy took over gaming social media on Wednesday, Oct. 1, as Microsoft revealed it would be increasing the price of the core Xbox Game Pass offer to $29.99, a $10 prize hike. The move towards 30 dollars was seen as the breaking point for many, who cite it as the final straw in the price hikes.

Announced via blog post on their official website, Microsoft’s changes to the Game Pass split the service into three tiers: a $9.99 tier with 50 games and no launch day games, a $14.99 ‘Premium’ tier, with games launch day games “within a year,” and its previous offer, now titled “Ultimate,” at $29.99. What followed the announcement was a wave of cancellations so large that it crashed the services cancellation page.

So what has led Microsoft to take Game Pass, once the best deal in all of gaming, and push it to $30 luxury that few would pay?

Microsoft pushed a fullscreen ad for the GamePass price hike to Xbox users the day after it was announced. (Image Credit Microsoft)

Game Pass’s incredible original offer

Game Pass used to be one of the best deals in gaming. That’s not up for debate. For 20 dollars, (cheaper in some local currencies), you’d be guaranteed day one release access to dozens of games, as well as a library of hundreds of free titles. It was heralded as a Netflix of games, and many jumped at the chance. With its free month to start, and affordable re-up compared to buying new games each month, it was seen as a godsend, especially during the peaks of gaming during Covid.

However, it seems the ‘Netflix of gaming’ has made the same mistakes as the streaming services that perhaps inspired it. They pushed players into a subscription model where they no longer owned the media they consumed, and made developers choose between payouts and guaranteed downloads or the gamble of general releases.

Microsoft itself was projecting 200 million users in Game Pass by 2034, and staff had announced that Game Pass had around 34 million users in 2024. This was a huge jump from the 11 million users the service previously had under the Xbox Live banner, and was reportedly projected to make over 5.5 billion dollars in 2025. It also claimed to be making $230 million in revenue each month in 2023, and that most users paid for the service (rather than free trials).

However, in the wake of a price hike, and now mass cancellations, those projections are seemingly in shambles. Some observers suggest that these projections and revenue figures may never have been realistic.

• Read also: Roblox pulls millions of games, addresses child safety concerns

What’s in a price hike?

Microsoft appears to be desperately attempting to secure revenue in 2025. Its hardware underwent two price hikes this year, and several of their exclusive games were priced towards $80. Beyond this, their recent advertising and marking push of “everything is an Xbox” seemingly undermined their core message. The theory behind the ‘everything is an Xbox’ strategy is to make inroads into their rivals in the PC and console market. In reality, if everything is an Xbox, then nothing is.

And it seems blow after blow is coming for Xbox. A day after announcing its price hike, GameStop, one of the largest distributors of Xbox Game Pass time cards, said it would be keeping the price at $19.99. The company evidently believes that even losing $10 a sale (it would be eating the $10 price hike on each sale to honor this offer) is worth it to keep players coming to their stores.

The next day Xbox consoles were subjected to a fullscreen advertisement for the new Xbox Ultimate with price hike included. For many, this will be the nail in the coffin for Xbox Game Pass. Once an unmistakable deal, now a $360 a year obligation, Microsoft may have killed Game Pass, and Xbox along with it due to a surprising price hike.

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Featured Image Credit: Microsoft