Microsoft Hikes The Price Of Games Pass; Adds Tier For No Day One Games

If you’re a subscriber to Microsoft’s Game Pass service, you would have received a lovely email from them this morning announcing that a price hike is on the cards due to “changing market conditions.” The company also announced that a new Standard tier allowing users to abstain from day one releases will be available for a cheaper rate.

The base Core tier will remain at $10.95 a month and provide the following:

• Online console multiplayer
• Catalogue of over 25 high-quality games on console
• Member deals & discounts

The new Standard tier is replacing the Console tier for new members and will be priced at US$14.99 a month but will not include day one releases. This new tier will be available in September.

The PC tier is now priced at $13.95 (up from $10.95) a month and provides:

• Hundreds of high-quality games on PC
• New games on day one
• Member deals & discounts
• EA Play membership

Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $22.95 (up from $18.95) a month and offer:

• Hundreds of high-quality games on console, PC and cloud
• New games on day one
• Member deals, discounts and Perks
• Online console multiplayer
• EA Play membership

These price changes will take effect as of today (July 10) for new users, while existing members will be slugged with the new rates on September 12.

It’s obvious that the three-trillion-dollar-valued company has designed this change to encourage users to boost their donations to the company after its A$97 billion acquisition of Activision-Blizzard-King has left their wallets a little less fat. For a corporation that has said so much and done the opposite, Microsoft couldn’t go back on its word and not have the upcoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 launch day one on Game Pass, so a price increase and forcing users into coughing up more money for the privilege sounds about on brand.

What do you make of the price increase and new tier news? Let us know in the comments or on social media.