Day-one release exclusivity, new pricing, and subscription options

Today Game Pass for consoles and PCs is more expensive than yesterday and, depending on your situation, possibly will include fewer video games. Without prior notice and with immediate effect Microsoft has rethought what it costs and what is offered in its service equivalent to the Netflix of video games. The changes do not benefit anyone, but the most affected are those who were not subscribed yesterday and were thinking of making the move in the next few months. Especially with a view to Call of Duty. Let’s take it step by step.

The three major Game Pass adjustments

Microsoft has announced and made the changes to Game Pass effective at the same time, and has disabled the possibility of subscribing to the original console plan to replace it with a new one. No beating around the bush. The new Game Pass Standard will arrive in the next few months, but from July 10, 2024 Two very specific measures have already been established and the third will soon be presented and enabled.

• From the start, everyone new subscribers Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass Core, and PC Game Pass will meet a price increase which varies depending on your plan. To give you an exact figure, in the case of Game Pass Ultimate we are talking about 17.99 dollars per month.
• On the other hand, it is no longer possible to subscribe to Game Pass for console (aka the traditional Xbox Game Pass). That said, those who are already active members prior to the rate change and have automatic paid renewal enabled will not see any changes or be affected.
• Finally, the gap left by Game Pass for consoles will be filled by the new Game Pass Standard, which will be enabled in the coming months and whose biggest difference with the one that already existed is that it already there will be no day one launches. These become exclusive to Game Pass Ultimate.

What does this mean? On PC, it all comes down to a price increase. Two dollars more, to be specific in the case of Europe. On consoles, things are more complicated, so if you had an active Game Pass subscription, you will keep the same terms until you cancel the renewal. However, new players will find a much less generous panorama compared to what there was on July 9.

Thus, pending further details on the upcoming Game Pass Standard, the correlation of plans and what each one offers to new players remains as follows.

The new Game Pass price has a side effect: looking ahead to the rest of the year and beyond, Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda and Activision Blizzard had planned some big releases that, as is tradition, would come at launch to the service. Now, those releases are reserved for current subscribers and new subscribers starting with the Ultimate Plan.

In any case, and without wanting to justify these changes, it can be said that this measure is also supported from another point of view: console sales are a very specific value for Microsoft, but its current vision involves bringing Xbox and Game Pass (through Xbox Cloud Gaming) to all possible devices, including mobile phones, web browsers, SmartTVs and, this is no coincidence, compatibility with Amazon Fire Sticks. One that, by the way, arrived hours before the price change.

However, let’s not lose perspective: the most delicate thing here with the change from Game Pass for consoles to Game Pass Standard is not what is offered, or what will no longer be offered, but precisely what will not be available at launch.

A drastic decision: day one releases will now only be on Game Pass Ultimate

Is the best plan worth it? In addition to being able to play in the cloud and having all the features, we are talking about releases of the caliber of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the next Call of Duty or, looking ahead to 2025, Doom The Dark Ages or the next The Elder Scrolls. In addition, of course, to those games that arrive every month: in the next few weeks they will arrive Flintlock o Frostpunk 2 and this summer we will see STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl.

What is the price ratio? Microsoft has established a huge table with all the countriesbut as an example at iGamesNews we have added seven so that you can get a quick idea of ​​what each of the services currently available will cost.

Finally, the arrival of Game Pass Standard This leaves us with a curious panorama. We know that the monthly price will be $14.99 (two dollars less than Game Pass Ultimate until July 9) but the prices in each country are unknown and all its advantages have not yet been specified. Offering, for all intents and purposes, a service that is not left in no man’s land considering that today we have 422 games ready to play, but that is neither as attractive as the highest subscription nor ends up being as economical as a Game Pass Core which, for all intents and purposes and without disregarding its catalog of games, is left for those who only want to play online.

Perhaps the idea is to take new players directly to the Ultimate subscription, or perhaps after crunching the numbers and seeing what is to come, the prices have to be recalculated. It is not ruled out that it is both things at the same time. In any case, if you signed up weeks ago to take advantage of the service for the holidays, congratulations: you have the best of both worlds.

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