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Is Xbox Game Pass No Longer The Best Deal In Gaming? | Spot On

With a new Call of Duty and a hot first party lineup ahead, is now the time for the price hike?

By Tamoor Hussain , DeVante Chisolm , Lucy James , Jean-Luc Seipke , and Jessica Cogswell on July 16, 2024 at 8:33AM PDT

Xbox has announced major changes to its Game Pass subscription and truthfully, they're so muddled even I struggle with laying them all out. But let's try.

Starting in September, new members to the Xbox ecosystem will no longer be allowed to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass for console. However, those currently subscribed will be allowed to maintain their subscription, which will include the program's back catalog as well as day one game access, as long as they maintain their subscription. New Xbox Game Pass users, then, will get a choice of a few different subscription tiers, the first being Game Pass Standard. This tier will be priced at $15 a month and gives users access to a back catalog of games and Xbox Live Gold, which is now referred to as Game Pass Core. However, Standard will not include any day one releases or Xbox Cloud gaming.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's features will not be changed and will still include PC Game Pass, but is seeing a price hike and will now be $20 a month. Similarly, PC Game Pass remains the same but will now be $12 a month. For those looking solely for access to online multiplayer, Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold) will now cost you $75 a month. And, just for good measure, Microsoft has also implemented a new rule in which existing users can only stack up to 13 months of Xbox Game Pass for console, though users who have currently stacked more than that will not be effected.

If that sounds like a lot, it's because it is.

From its console naming convention to its subscription service's pricing structure, Xbox has a habit of making things overly complicated. But the big question we have is: Is this going to come back to bite them? On this week's Spot On, Tam and Lucy go over the new pricing model and discuss if they think Xbox is making the right move. With thousands of layoffs and studio closures so closely behind them and a new Call of Duty and hot first party lineup ahead, is now the time for such a dramatic restructure and price hike?

Spot On is GameSpot's weekly news show in which managing editor Tamoor Hussain and senior producer Lucy James talk about the latest game news. Given the massive video game industry's highly dynamic and never-ending news cycle, there's always something to talk about. Unlike most news shows, Spot On will dive deep into a single topic instead of recapping all the news. Spot On airs each Friday.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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$75 a month?

Upvote • 9 months ago

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A better article over on gamesindustry, that covers this much better. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/price-hike-shows-xbox-is-determined-to-make-game-pass-work-opinion

I personally gave up my PC gamepass sub, back last fall 23' . But I believe in Gamepass, I think it can offer consumers a good product at a fair price. I disagree with a price hike at this time, at least until MS gaming divisions has more compelling exclusives. Just too few exclusives, too monotone of a library, and a weak 9th gen library as well. Hold off on a price hike until MS gaming start throwing out some big exclusives, then increase the price.

I really want to see xbox compete this 9th gen, and we have three or more -strong, platforms battling it out in the AAA space. With so many gamepass subscribers, often paying month to month, many will just stop their subscriptions. A very large subscriber pool, is the only way a gaming subscription like this can survive. I think they should have waited until later, when bigger AAA exclusive games are launching on the platform.

4 • 9 months ago

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Edited By Just1MoHr

@jenovaschilld: Glad you ditched gamepASS too man, join the wagon!

Do you think MS and Sony should really be charging people just to go online? We all knew the prices were going up with GP and for online access, and at one point I just stopped buying anymore multiplayer games on the XB.

So they really must think we are daft and are going to just pay hundreds of dollars on multiplayer games and have them just increase prices on Core/GP on a whim. At what point do you say I have had enough already paying X amount for just to be able to go online with your console? Once you hit that limit, that is when your multiplayer games become worthless.

I think I am seriously going to start buying more of my games on PC now as these price increases will have no end in site. Consoles will become a money burning pit and the sub falloff will cause quicker increases in those price hikes...you will get another one in 2025 for sure!

Upvote • 9 months ago

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@just1mohr:

Do you think MS and Sony should really be charging people just to go online? .. Yes and no. They should not, and the cost of bandwidth and online play can be offset through prices of the games. BUT, that would mean higher costs for games, and online access for 10s of millions of console players around the globe, who are just hovering on the poor and middle class line. Richer nations are paying more to offset the lower costs other nations pay for online access, bandwidth services, and costs for subscriptions. This is not a bad thing for those nations paying a bit more either.

At what point do you say I have had enough already paying X amount for just to be able to go online with your console? Yes they do think we are that stupid and they are right.100s of millions of console, and many more mobile and pc have all proven ... the mass consumer is dumb with their money. Smart shoppers are a the tiniest grain of sand... The biggest problem is we need more regulations that would allow more competition in the gaming industry. More players in platforms, allows more publishers, and more viable developers. Instead we have too few mega publishers, console makers, gobbling up everyone else and killing competition and prices. No competition means, no push back on runaway prices.

I am pc gamer, but unless you are unethical... ;) .. buying current AAA games on PC is more expensive then on console. DDPs are not allowing prices to fall like they should as Publishers are purposefully keeping pc prices higher. Right now, physical is cheaper and you can resale used or trade. But console DDPs usually have prices similar or cheaper then pc counterparts, until they get .... several years old. Again, we need more competition in this space. But these massive corporations have the market tide up, to where a industry(gaming) is bigger then TV, Movies, Music, combined ... but ran by just a few players and publishers. Think about how many studios are making movies alone- around the globe, and how many publishers that can successfully put out a AAA game yearly or regularly.

Consoles are still a very good deal for most consumers. As compared to gaming pcs that drastically lose their value. A 5-7 year old console is still supported and getting new games performing well on that platform... but a 5-7 yr old pc will not even be getting updated drivers for new games. A 3080 back 4 yrs ago has already lost 2/3 of its value, if not more. Pub/Devs and steam are only able to support so many skus for cpus, mobos, and gpus. A amd FX or a i5 quad core will be under minimum specs pretty quickly. I love pc gaming, i know what my hobby costs, I know its diminishing returns and what the money is going for... and especially how quickly it loses its value.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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Edited By Just1MoHr

@jenovaschilld: Here is my take.

MS has their online website and there are millions of people downloading drivers, software and updates, and these numbers far exceed the XB gamers and they are not being charged. If you want business and make millions, upon millions then you should fork over the cost of the servers as they currently are on www.microsoft.com and related sites and this is how it should be.

There is absolutely no reason to charge us to go online, since costs can be made from:

1) Selling peripherals such as controllers, console skins and knickknacks.

2) Charging 30% on digital sales.

3) They are making more profits from the skewed sales of digital vs phyical and recouping the costs of physical media and related components.

4) Selling upgrades, skins, seasons and the likes.

5) They can always add real-world ads WITHIN their games and further increase profit. I am ok with this as long as it does not hinder gameplay, and can in fact make it more realistic with some games.

6) They can already make a higher return by making better and true next gen games, not filler gamepASS crap like RedFail, SeaofThievery and Grounded in low sales....these are Switch games, know your fakin audience!!!!

7) The digital sales can be perpetuated generation after generation with no need to code/maintain existing games mostly.

8) They act like they have to re-invent the wheel when making some of these repeat and rinse games, and act as if there is no copy-and-paste. They act as if C++ object oriented programming does not exist.

9) Use AI at the very least to make meshes, grass, flowers, trees, rocks, mountains, skies...the generic stuff and leave the finer art and filler work for artists.

"Consoles are still a very good deal for most consumers."

Yes they are, but you now add the minimum $75/year for Core and you are at PC prices.

Lets say this gen lasts 7 years, so:

XBox series X: $500

gamepASS Core $75 * 7 = $525

XBox series X PRO (Mid-gen refresh) $500

________________________________________________

Total for 7 year gen = $1,525

And this does not include the higher prices that XB owners pay for games, which go on sale more frequently and are cheaper on PC. Some games that are on PC and PS never or rarely go on sale on XB purposely, games such as Pacer.

For those just interested in XB series S, then you might as well save even more money and play on a PS4/XB One if your goal is to save money. I think they will not make the same mistake of supporting a lower-end console and dragging the entire generation on the next one. I wonder how many games on average XB Series S owners are buying??? I would imagine if they cannot fork over the money for a true next gen experience, this tier buys limited games?

XBox series S: $300

gamepASS Core $75 * 7 = $525

________________________________________________

Total for 7 year gen = $875

There are TONS of mid-tier laptops and gaming PC's at the $900-1K sale on Black Friday and even now. Tons more that are cheaper and a bit slower too. AND they can buy their online games knowing that mostly peacefully they can play them again without having MS raise prices overnight....I think MS have kicked this tier the hardest in the nutz!!!

Upvote • 9 months ago

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@just1mohr: MS gaming division, which is far removed from the MS main corporation, valued at 3 trillion consider MS gaming division ... a rounding error.

But again, I agree that online play should be free ... but it is expensive and some 20yrs ago xbox live proved a successful revenue. I just do not see a MS gaming division rolling back a successful revenue out of the goodness of their hearts, even if it makes sense.

You would be surprised at the number of gamers that simply buy an xbox and play games without online play. It is a large % of consoles, and while they do not release numbers, estimates are 70% attach ratio with xbox s and less with x. In 2021. Probably not the same now, but close. Fall 2023 some 27 million total consoles sold. MS gaming division is pushing to make gamepass profitable, So I doubt they will ever have a free online play. Nor will Sony or Nintendo.

So again, as far as costs for consoles. Your not taking into account that PC gaming also means you buy ... pc games. Which seems to be around the same prices as console DDPs, if not higher. For equivalent titles AAA and indie, and it is silly to build a $1500 gaming pc to play RPG maker titles on steam.

Again, you start at 'the gen' $500 for a console, and at least a $1000-1500 equivalent for pc. Consoles still offer physical, pc does not. Yes you can illegally obtain pc games, but that is another discussion. Consoles are an inclusive system, one that they must maintain and charge for online game play. PC players do not, unless it is ... like mmorpgs, or certain other sub games or gotcha games. But the console online play is more robust in pure numbers, for the most part, for most games.

There is no universe where a gaming pc has the equivalent value of a console... but I am happy to pay for that premium, even though gaming pcs lose their values very fast, lack exclusives, lack long term pub/dev support, and require a certain amount of tech knowledge to maintain. Meanwhile grandmothers are buying their grandkids a console and some games at walmart, and they are playing them in no time.

AS for the tiers.... I just do not know what MS gaming div is doing right now. AS you can tell by my OG post. Why raise them at all without strong exclusives is my query, it makes no sense. Once they have a few compelling games, then raise sub prices. Gamepass was a good value, but with this raise... not sure.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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the issue is microsoft in general, they may have a near bottomless bank account,but they still need to show for all the money they are wasting. sure they bought activision/Bethesda, they will soon be ran into the ground. They have little if any physical sales, their whole infrastructure is a dumpster fire. so now they are raising money on the one thing they a little gain on to try and recoup. they need to stay on pc products, and software, stop destroying the console gaming industry faster and faster then it is.

3 • 9 months ago

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Why are you asking a question that would have a different answer relative to the person answering? May as well be asking if peanut butter and jam sandwiches taste good.

2 • 9 months ago

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@bdrtfm: They are ragebaiting.

The whole “spot on” series is about negativity and whining. I’ve never seen them cover any positive gaming trends, genres, or innovations.

But then again, Gamespot has devolved into a site that caters to negative news and comments. Rarely does anyone have anything nice to say.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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Edited By adrardohan

Nope backed by dei esg nonsense. I will not support that because I'm excluded.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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Edited By adrardohan

@ZombieVirolina: didn't earn it . Hire by merit not because of box ticking 🤦

Upvote • 9 months ago

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It never was. I don't get the love for it. A bunch of indie nonsense.

7 • 9 months ago

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They're also killing the rewards program. ouch.

Upvote • 9 months ago

The_Mighty_KELP

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The_Mighty_KELP

Uh, "Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold) will now cost you $75 a month." ??? I think you mean $75 a YEAR. Pretty major typo, please fix!

2 • 9 months ago

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It should just be Game Pass (One platform), and Game Pass Ultimate (All platforms and streaming). Both versions should get discounts and day 1 first party releases.

2 • 9 months ago

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Its a clever way to keep people subscribed in order to maintain their benefits. Now anyone that let their sub lapse will be bumped down and have to wait till day one releases leave the grace period to enjoy it.

I have never used gamepass not because i dont want but because for the life of me gaming services for windows never install proper so i cant run the app.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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@s1taz4a3l: As a guy who owns the Master Chief collection from the Windows Xbox app store and many other XB titles from there. You're not wrong. There were many classic games they had that didn't even ship with an icon for the longest (It was just blank icons). And the Windows store version of the MCC takes, and I swear to god, 15 to 20 minutes to load at times. While the Steam version is much shorter to load and is more stable. Plus, every app comes with an icon.

This is absolute bull $*** because it's a Microsoft App made by Microsoft, Downloaded from a store owned and made by Microsoft, and running on a Microsoft-owned and made Operating system. But, it runs better on Steam?

As a matter of fact as someone who really gave the Microsoft App stores a chance. I can't name a single App that is better than or equal to just going to a random website and downloading it.

2 • 9 months ago

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It simply never was.

It was the best value if you wanted to rent, not own, your games and were fine with games vanishing and/or not being there when you got the urge to play them again.

This isn't to say that it was ever bad. It was superior to other competitor offerings. But it was only the "best" from a certain point of view and/or to a certain type of gamer.

8 • 9 months ago

blaznwiipspman1

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blaznwiipspman1

@BeefoTheBold: were all renting at the end of the day. Yawn.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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@BeefoTheBold: I mean yeah, at this point ... and well when these subscription Netflix like services started people had to know it was only a ticket to ride. And nothing more. Even these games they give away monthly, will only last as long as they own the console platform and it is supported.

People are paying for an experience, and nothing more. They own nothing, they have nothing. They cannot trade, resale, barter, or even give away. That is gamepass, just paying for access. BUT in and of itself, not a bad thing, at all. Like you said, I just hope consumers understand what they are getting, for how long, and what they are losing out on, by not owning physical.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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I didn't want to state the obvious like everyone else has, and knows. But we saw this coming from a mile away last year when they got A&B for $69 billion.

I speak for everyone when I say that no one believed Microsoft was going to get a console seller like COD and dump every COD game on Game Pass without a price bump. That's beyond stupid.

4 • 9 months ago

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@illegal_peanut: I think the bigger issue and eye opener is that they will just keep on raising prices just to go online and play your game. But at what point do you tell XB no more? At what point do you wake up and realize you are wasting money on multiplayer games buying them on console and just move on to PC or the Switch?

Is it $75/year, $120/yr, $240, $300...when? Because that is the point when your multiplayer purchases become worthless digital trash.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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If the next CoD and one or two of the games they announced pan out, all will be forgotten with most. If they have another year like the last two, it's gonna be real bad.

Upvote • 9 months ago

deactivated-670ee18aceebc

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deactivated-670ee18aceebc

One good exclusive and y'all will be singing "greatest value in gaming" ... AGAIN. Hard part is Xbox pulling off that exclusive

Seriously though, it saves me a TON of money with 3 kids, all with different preferences. 1 yr GP = 3.5 full priced games. Each kid wants one a month without GP active.

5 • 9 months ago

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@rabidgiantsr: dude stop! This way the editors and readers of this website will realize that the majority of gamers are not 30+yo single dudes who live with their parents!!! The awareness will kill them!

Upvote • 9 months ago

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I pay for the Ultimate. It's not for me a value, because I never use it, but that's mainly because i'm busy in my personal life. I mean, it depends on the consumer.

2 • 9 months ago

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Expensive for sure now though only was a matter of time before Microsoft raised the prices.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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Is that a typo? $75 a month lol.

2 • 9 months ago

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mogan Moderator

Game Pass PC still seems pretty good. I think Ultimate would need to include most all non-Sony AAA releases on Day one for me to want that tier anymore.

Upvote • 9 months ago

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Sam3231 Online

It never was. In general, Xbox is a bad deal. Just do the math.

$180 annually for ultimate to rent a bunch of games or you can buy 3 bangers permanently. Would take the 3 bangers.

Same goes for the consoles...

2013: Xbox One $500
2017: Xbox One X $500
2020: Xbox Series X $500

$1500 = badass PC.

7 • 9 months ago

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@Sam3231: well, said, xbox is a absolute failure and instead of bowing out with respect it's just pulling at what ever lines it can to try and stay relavent.Spent sor, had a hand in the failing of dreamcast and it doesn't surprise me it's repeating itself now. sucks cause xbox HAD some really great exclusives, but the 1 or 2 they have and now the cod and Bethesda cookie cutter catalogue I don't think will save them. People want games, for which ever platform and xbox is focused on generic rental services. Sadly console gamming is comming to an end and I give it one more generation and it will be gone.

2 • 9 months ago

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@Sam3231: LOL, a gaming PC playing games at any kind of competent level for 7yrs or 14... Nothing loses its value faster then a gaming PC.... and this is coming from a pc gamer/builder since windows 98'. I love my hobby, gaming /pc gaming, but I know what its value is, and what I am paying for. Unlike consoles, pc cpus, mobos, gpus, have limited spans of support. A 3080 from 4yrs ago, is not even worth 1/3 its price now. What a RX 580 can do back in 2018ish as compared to what an equivalent priced card now is impossible to compare to. What games will be supported by that 2013 windows 8 OS, and apis, as compared to today.

For a long time you could competently upgrade a gaming PC, and keeps its usage and value going, but now with an abused used parts market, and too crowded supported skus - a new gaming pc - especially enthusiast builds, plummet fast in value. I personally sale my gaming pcs as a whole about every 3 yrs, as by the 4th year their value just plummets too much. Meanwhile a console is supported 5-7 yrs out. Right now there is 30 or more supported CPU skus, and 18+ gpu skus - trying to send out support and updates for a haswell based quad core or a amd FX is unrealistic and just not done.

Yeah you can play, some old minecraft or ... rpg makers games on steam, maybe. But that $1500 badass pc from 2013 will not even support an OS, that supports a current DDP running today. The best value in gaming is a ... console. Always have been. For that $500ish platform, you get to play and have support for games that last 5-7yrs. And with physical, play those games for even longer. No OS update, no digital distribution platform updates, no driver updates are going to interfere - as consoles are an enclosed ecosystem. A game coming out for a console in its 7th year will have been well developed to play just right, on that console. Meanwhile you are lucky if a pc parts manufacturer will even bother to support that far out, and with any new games.

I get your point, and not ribbing you, but it is a ridiculous take on what this hobby is, we call gaming. PC gaming allows us to play games, often at their best performing level possible... for a very short time. But at a very high cost, as compared to a simple console.

3 • 9 months ago

deactivated-670ee18aceebc

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deactivated-670ee18aceebc

@Sam3231: That math is not a fair comparison. Your $1500 badass PC in 2013 would've required $3k in upgrades / replacements by now. Mine has.

7 • 9 months ago

Use your keyboard!

ESC

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