Launch day access to first-party titles now restricted to $19.99/month "Ultimate" tier.

For years now, Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has set itself apart by offering subscribers launch-day access to new first-party titles in addition to a large legacy library of older games. That important “day one” perk is now set to go away for all but the highest tier of Game Pass’ console subscribers, even as Microsoft asks for more money for Game Pass across the board.

Let’s start with the price increases for existing Game Pass tiers, which are relatively straightforward:

  • “Game Pass Ultimate” is going from $16.99 to $19.99 per month.
  • “Game Pass for PC” is going from $9.99 to $11.99 per month.
  • “Game Pass Core” (previously known as Xbox Live Gold) is going from $59.99 to $74.99 for annual subscriptions (and remains at $9.99 for monthly subscriptions).

Things get a bit more complicated for the $10.99/month “Xbox Game Pass for Console” tier. Microsoft announced that it will no longer accept new subscriptions for that tier after today, though current subscribers will be able to keep it (for now) if they auto-renew their subscriptions.

  • ryathalEnglish
    71·
    6 months ago

    The pass for pc version is pretty bad, the catalog is mediocre, the interface is awful, and downloads are insanely slow (especially compared to steam).

    • 60fpsrefugee@lemm.eeEnglish
      3·
      6 months ago

      Yeah, the Xbox app sucks, it’s slow and get stuck all the time. They have been at this for 3x years now, developing Windows native app, why in the hell can’t their 1st party app just not be semi broken on their own platform.