Cliff Notes – Is the Xbox brand ruined by the Game Pass price hike
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Consumer Backlash: The recent price hike of Game Pass Ultimate to £22.99 has sparked significant anger among subscribers, with many feeling that Microsoft underestimated the potential backlash.
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Long-term Brand Damage: Critics argue that this price increase, coupled with years of perceived mismanagement, could irreparably harm the Xbox brand, leading some to suggest that Microsoft should consider divesting its gaming division.
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Subscription Viability Concerns: Many gamers express doubts about the value of Game Pass, citing limited gaming time and the overwhelming library as reasons for cancelling their subscriptions, indicating a shift in consumer priorities.
Games Inbox: Is the Xbox brand ruined by the Game Pass price hike?
Can the Xbox recover from this week’s negativity? (Microsoft)
The Friday letters page tries to paint the Game Pass changes in a more positive light, as one reader prepares to buy Super Mario Galaxy for the third time.
Damaged goods
Like everyone else, I’m not only angry about the Game Pass price rise but I’m dumfounded that Microsoft thought they could do this and not cause upset. Ultimate is now the only tier that gets first party games on day one and it’s £23 a month! You could get two or three indie games for that and at the end of the day you’d actually own them too.
To me, this seems as bad or worse than the reveal of the Xbox One. I have never seen the internet so down on Xbox before. I don’t think it’s just because of Game Pass though, but everything they’ve been doing so wrong for so many years all adding up to people being completely done with Xbox now.
I agree very much with GC’s article on the situation and that, really, they’ve been messing up since the introduction of Kinect. That is a long time to be clueless and, if anything, things have got worse under Phil Spencer. How he, or any of his lackeys, have kept their jobs I will never know.
I really don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that Microsoft has killed the Xbox brand now. They can carry on as a third party publisher, sure, but they’ve ruined the name of Xbox and at this point I think they’re better off selling he whole games business off to Amazon or someone. At least then the people in charge might have a clue as to what they’re doing.
Cranston
Least worst option
I picked up a 12 month’s Core/Essential Game Pass code off CDKeys, now called Loaded, as I was under the impression it would convert to my current Ultimate subscription 2:1. But it seems that only applies the other way, converting Core to Ultimate. Just kept coming up ‘error’ when trying to apply it, when having an active Ultimate subscription.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
As much as I’ve enjoyed Xbox over the years I think, like many, I just can’t be bothered with them as a platform anymore, hardware or subscription service. I’ll buy the games on PlayStation or maybe PC next gen. Sony are hardly winning me over these days, to stick with them.
It’s only all the horror stories about PC that makes me think I will end up getting a PlayStation 6 as the least worst option. Great days.
Anyway, this is the code. Would you mind offering it to a reader who requests it via the inbox.
Simundo
GC: Sure, thanks for that. We’ll give it to whoever asks for it and sends in a useable Inbox letter.
Value added
After the price rise of Game Pass Ultimate, I have run a few numbers on the extras they have added.
Firstly the 100,000 reward points a year, this can equate to extra money off games when roughly 5,900 points equals a £5 voucher. So in the whole about £85 a year, not sure on the increase on what you could get but seems over double what was previously possible. And reward points are pretty easy to stack up if you use the service daily.
The inclusion of Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew are very much something that’s very dependent on the player. Ubisoft+ Classics, for me, are either previously bought at sale or at least played. But they could be valuable for some players. Fortnite is also something I’ve played in the past with my partner on their Switch but seems to have fallen out of favour.
I don’t want to defend the increase, but I can see where the extra value is. You just have to use the service like it is a proper subscription and as a wide variety of stuff, instead of holding out for one game to the next.
Grumith
Time poor
Not to go over old ground, but Game Pass type services never really made sense to me in the first place, so that Microsoft have had to increase prices to magic up growth isn’t surprising. I mean how much time do people have to pump into video games to make these services a good value proposition? And it is time that’s the issue. You could put all the games on there and it wouldn’t make it better value when people game for maybe eight hours a week on average. You’d be basically pouring more water into a bath that’s already full.
Sony had an idea that could have worked, with those shorter spin-off titles like Uncharted: Lost Legacy and Spiderman Miles Morales. A steady stream of these eight or nine hour adventures, based on prior development work would have made games feel more like an Amazon Prime series. I know it’s essentially just standalone story DLC repackaged… but if you had a high volume of these from multiple franchises dripping onto the platform, is that such a bad idea to try and sell subscriptions compared to live service games?
It works doubly for Sony, since its games are sold on cinematic immersion and spectacle, not innovative gameplay. Fans what to know what happens next to Kratos or Ellie, not whether the action combat has any more bells and whistles.
Single-player, story driven gaming is currently like a very (very) long movie… one and done and we all move on, but maybe it should move towards being a continuous TV series instead over the life of a console generation. People don’t subscribe to Netflix for the movies after all, it’s the series’ and promise of more to come.
Marc
GC: We agree; we really wish Sony had seen the potential in more half-sequels. Apart from anything we enjoyed the tighter, more coherent Miles Morales more than the two full-length Spider-Man games.
Day of release
October 2nd has finally arrived. You all know that means. Ghost Of Yōtei is officially released. My copy has finally come through the letterbox. I’ll keep this short and sweet. If I had to ask you GC your personal opinion, since you had the liberty of reviewing both games. Which would you say is the better title? Ghost Of Tsushima or Ghost Of Yōtei?
Which title impressed you more, judging by narrative, exploration, character development, side quests, and the scale overall? Which story resonated with you more? Jin’s story of change and acceptance of becoming the Ghost? Or Atsu’s story of familial vengeance and eradication of the Yotei Six?
Shahzaib Sadiq
GC: Ghost Of Yōtei is the better game but we were disappointed it was still very similar to the original.
The same but different
I’ve tried to find this out online but have struggled – hoping you might have the definitive answer. Does the Switch 2 upgrade for Super Mario Galaxy also apply to the 3D All-Stars version?
If not, do you know if your save game from the 3D All-Stars version can be used with the new version or would you have to start again?
Jonathan Foley
GC: The upgrade doesn’t work. They’re two separate versions of the same game. The new one is a slightly better remaster, but you’d have to be a mega fan to double dip, as the difference is mild.
Traitor AI
I got a letter up a couple of weeks ago, about Nintendo Direct.
I said I was unsure about Super Mario Galaxy. But I ordered it anyway (my third time of buying Galaxy 1), and it totally feels like the perfect example of a light remaster.
It has the perfect new level of shine and the controls feel like they work better than the Galaxy 1 that was in the 3D All-Stars collection. And the absolute quality of the games can never be doubted.
For another bit, for Game Pass.
Like many others, I am going to be paying less. I am dropping to Premium and working out if I actually use it enough to justify that.
Interestingly, I explained to Copilot my video game habits. It recommended I downgrade to Premium and look to cancel if I didn’t use it enough.
Based on my gaming habits, it gave my best order of online choices as:
Nintendo
Steam
Sony
Microsoft
I don’t even use Steam or Sony. Because I don’t have a gaming PC or a PlayStation 5 (I had already told Copilot those two bits).
Interesting bit from Microsoft’s own AI.
Si Zero
Easy decision
Xbox have done a lot of strange things in the last couple of years but their decision to hike up Game Pass Ultimate to £22.99 just seems suicidal?! And to announce it on the same day they actually introduce the 50% price hike (with no warning to subscribers) just seems designed to annoy people even more?! It’s bonkers!
I’ll have had Game Pass Ultimate for two-and-a-half years, when my subscription run out at the end of February 2026 and, to be fair, it’s actually been amazing value. I used the Xbox Gold to Ultimate trick, so it’s cost me about £5 per month to subscribe and I almost feel guilty at that price. I think £9.99 per month would be the sweet spot but even when they hiked the price to £14.99 per month, I knew I wouldn’t be renewing. I still wasn’t 100% convinced I was making the right decision but the £22.99 price has 100% confirmed my choice: I won’t be renewing in February or any time soon.
The mad thing is, with Ubisoft+ Classics, EA Play, Microsoft first party and all the other games included in Ultimate £22.99 probably isn’t a ridiculous price, considering the library of games you get access to. But who actually has time to play enough games to make £22.99 per month seem worthwhile?!
I’ve got a young family and probably only get chance to game around two to four hours per week now, so Ultimate makes absolutely no sense to me anymore and I’m sure there’s a lot of other people in a similar position. With Netflix, Disney+, Prime, Spotify, etc. people really do need to pick and choose their subscriptions these days and I think Microsoft have just made it a super easy decision to ditch Game Pass Ultimate.
I’ve been slowly using my Microsoft Points to help build up my games library the last year or so, so I’ll have plenty of games to play when my Ultimate subscription runs out next year. The strange thing is, I’m actually looking forward to having a smaller library of games to choose from, and I think that’s the major issue with Game Pass subscriptions: there’s almost too much choice and I struggle to focus and get absorbed into a single game like I used to.
WigglyBlade
Another one
Well, count me amongst the numbers that have now cancelled Game Pass.
I cannot for the life of me understand what Microsoft thinks it’s doing. Surely, they must have considered there could be a backlash? It just makes no sense.
They must consider themselves to be in some sort of crisis mode to even consider an increase like this.
What does GC think about this all? Surely they are risking disaster by doing this? Is it likely they’ll think again when subscriptions inevitably plummet? It just seems such a crazy thing to do.
Absolutely baffled.
Anon
GC: We outlined our thoughts in the article linked at the top of the page, but whether they’ll consider a U-turn we couldn’t say. We doubt they expected the response to be quite this negative though.
Inbox also-rans
Just had another three attempts to change my Game Pass subscription from Ultimate to Premium. Website still refuses to accept instructions. I am beginning to suspect this is deliberate rather than caused by overuse.
Neil
Well done, Xbox. Doubling your Game Pass prices, that I’m glad I don’t use unless I get it off CDKeys or other and dropping the points on the app. Also, the points received for playing on the console. Looks like Ultimate pass will take years to get now.
Bobwallett
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