Xbox Game Pass Members Can Avoid Price Increase in Some Countries if They Stay Subbed
14A former employee has told Bloomberg that Xbox lost $300 million in sales of Call of Duty last year on Xbox consoles and PC due to the game now being available day one on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. This is according to internal estimates.
"Game Pass hasn’t delivered the explosive growth Microsoft anticipated post-Activision, and they’ve realized their infrastructure costs don’t align with their pricing model," Joost Van Dreunen, founder of the video-game analytics firm Aldora.
Microsoft had hopes Xbox Game Pass would grow to the point of being the Netflix of gaming. However, that hasn't happened.
The service first launched at $10 per month in 2017 and a year later would offer new games at launch. As time went on the price increased and Microsoft would make day one games only available on the Ultimate and PC tiers.
Former Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Kahn tried to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, however, the deal would eventually be approved. She took to social media and stated, "Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision has been followed by significant price hikes and layoffs, harming both gamers and developers."
She continued, "As we’ve seen across sectors, increasing market consolidation and increasing prices often go hand-in-hand. As dominant firms become too-big-to-care, they can make things worse for their customers without having to worry about the consequences."
The last known number of subscribers for Xbox Game Pass was 34 million in February 2024. Microsoft last July did announce Xbox Game Pass generated nearly $5 billion during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2025.
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The 50 percent price hike for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which was announced last week, is being held off for now in some countries for existing subscribers as long as they remain subscribed and keep auto-renew enabled.
"Our recent Game Pass update remains unchanged," said head of Xbox communications Kari Perez in a statement to The Verge. "Current subscribers in certain countries will continue renewing at their existing price for now, in line with local requirements. We’ll provide advance notice before price adjustments take effect in these countries."
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Poland, and India have confirmed they will be able to keep paying the previous price as long as they don't cancel their subscription. It is possible this is available in other countries, however, subscribers in at least the US will have to pay the higher price starting November 4, 2025.
This is likely due to local regulations and in an email stated subscribers in these markets will be notified "at least 60 days in advance" of any price changes.
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/465934/xbox-game-pass-members-can-avoid-price-increase-in-some-countries-if-they-stay-subbed/
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/465907/xbox-reportedly-lost-300-million-in-call-of-duty-sales-last-year-due-to-game-pass/
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