Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Price Hike: Now $30/Month with New Perks
▼ Summary
– Microsoft raised Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s price from $19.99 to $29.99 per month in October 2025, marking a 50% increase in the U.S. just 14 months after the previous hike.
– The company introduced three new Game Pass tiers: Essential at $9.99, Premium at $14.99, and Ultimate at $29.99, with PC Game Pass also increasing from $11.99 to $16.49 per month.
– Microsoft justified the price increases by adding features like over 75 day-one game releases annually, inclusion of Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics, and upgraded Xbox Cloud Gaming with better streaming quality.
– The new tiers offer expanded benefits, including unlimited cloud gaming, in-game rewards, and larger game libraries, with automatic transitions for existing subscribers to equivalent plans.
– The price changes occur amid industry scrutiny of Game Pass’s sustainability, with critics calling the model damaging, while Microsoft reported record annual revenue of nearly $5 billion for the service.
Microsoft has announced a substantial price increase for its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, marking the second major adjustment in just over a year. The premium tier now costs $29.99 per month in the United States, a significant jump from the previous $19.99. This represents a 50% price hike for American subscribers, adding an extra $120 to their annual gaming budget. In the United Kingdom, the increase is even steeper, rising from £14.99 to £22.99 per month.
The company is framing this change around a complete restructuring of the Game Pass ecosystem, which now features three distinct plans: Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. All existing subscribers will be automatically migrated to their corresponding new tiers. While the Ultimate plan sees a sharp price rise, the Premium tier holds steady at $14.99 per month, and the Essential plan remains at $9.99.
PC Game Pass has also become more expensive, with its monthly fee climbing from $11.99 to $16.49 in the U.S. This service will continue to offer day-one access to Microsoft’s own titles, including the popular Call of Duty franchise.
To justify the higher cost for the Ultimate plan, Microsoft is bundling in several new partner benefits. Starting November 18, Ultimate subscribers will receive a Fortnite Crew membership at no extra charge, which typically costs $11.99 per month and includes the Battle Pass and monthly V-Bucks. Furthermore, Ubisoft+ Classics, a service valued at $7.99 monthly, is now part of the package.
The cloud gaming experience is also receiving an upgrade. Microsoft states that Ultimate members will have exclusive access to the best streaming quality and shortest wait times, confirming that Xbox Cloud Gaming has officially exited its beta phase. The company emphasizes that the new pricing reflects the expanded game catalog, additional partner perks, and the enhanced cloud streaming performance.
The Premium tier has been upgraded to include a library of over 200 games playable on Xbox consoles, PC, and other supported devices. It features new Xbox-published titles within a year of their launch and now includes unlimited cloud gaming. Subscribers also gain in-game benefits for major titles like League of Legends and Call of Duty: Warzone, alongside enhanced rewards points for purchases and gameplay.
The Essential plan now offers unlimited cloud gaming, online multiplayer, and a curated selection of over 50 games that are fully playable on both console and PC, a first for this entry-level tier.
This price announcement arrives amid ongoing industry debate about the sustainability of subscription models. Former executives from Bethesda and Microsoft-owned studios have publicly questioned the long-term viability of services like Game Pass, suggesting they create market pressures and are subsidized by corporate capital. In response, Microsoft points to record-breaking engagement and revenue, noting that the service hit nearly $5 billion in annual revenue this year following major game releases.
The cost of engaging with the Xbox ecosystem has been a recurring theme, with recent adjustments to console pricing and the announcement of high-end hardware like the $999.99 ROG Xbox Ally X handheld. Despite these increases, Microsoft is betting that the added value in its Game Pass tiers will retain its subscriber base.
(Source: IGN)
