Microsoft has announced that it is revising the prices for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Two out of four plans will now be cheaper, but there will be some changes in their content.
The company is changing the price of its most expensive Ultimate plan from $29.99 to $22.99. However, this plan will no longer receive new Call of Duty titles at launch. Instead, they will become available about a year later, during the next holiday season. Existing Call of Duty titles will remain available.
The price of the PC Game Pass plan is also being revised, and will now cost $13.99 instead of $16.49. The same changes to the Ultimate plan with Call of Duty titles will also apply to the PC plan.
The pricing and benefits of the Essential and Premium plans remain unchanged.
Microsoft announced changes to its Xbox Game Pass pricing in October last year. This includes substantial increases, including a 50% increase in the price of the Ultimate plan and a 37.5% increase in the PC plan. There was no change in price for the bottom two plans, but there were significant cuts in the game library.
Microsoft tried to justify the price increase by including things like Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew, but many found these additions unfair or just plain unnecessary. The reaction from users was so intense that the Microsoft website crashed and everyone canceled their subscriptions.
Well, as we all know, no company can be forced to work faster than it can reach the bottom. Still, the prices are higher than the Ultimate ($19.99) and PC Game Pass ($11.99) plans before the increase, and this could be seen as a case of price gouging by Microsoft. The plans have now become objectively worse for many who previously would have clearly chosen them for day-one Call of Duty titles. Furthermore, the Essentials and Premium plans are still borderline worthless due to their limited libraries, and more or less exist as inducements to nudge you towards the Ultimate plan.
Still, if you were thinking of going with the two higher tier plans anyway they are now cheaper than they were a few days ago.
