It finally happened. After all of your other bills went up during this cost of living crisis Microsoft has followed suit and hiked up the prices of Xbox Game Pass. Although as usual they have taken the opportunity to restructure their offering as well so for those of you who are cost concious you can maintain your subscription, albeit at the cost of some of the features you may have been used to.

Windows Central are reporting that Xbox will introduce a new tier and close an old one to new subscribers. You can read their story here.

The new pricing structure is as follows:

Console Game Pass Changes

• New subscriptions for the current Console Game Pass will be discontinued
• Existing subscribers can retain their plans, including access to day one game releases

New Tier: Xbox Game Pass Standard

• Launches in September at $14.99/month
• Includes Xbox’s back catalog but excludes day one game releases
• Incorporates Xbox Live Gold (now called Game Pass Core) for multiplayer access
• Does not include cloud gaming capabilities

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Updates

• Core features remain unchanged (PC Game Pass, day one releases, extensive game library, cloud gaming)
• Price increase to $19.99/month

Other Pricing Adjustments

• PC Game Pass: Increases from $9.99 to $11.99/month
• Xbox Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold):
  • Annual subscription rises to $55.99 from $49.99
  • Monthly rate remains at $9.99

According to Jez Corden at Windows Central

According to Microsoft, the vast majority of users today are already on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is their flagship plan for the service. Game Pass Ultimate incorporates all games on Xbox consoles, as well as in the cloud, and on PC too, often with cross-save and cross-progression.

So whilst a price hike is never good Microsoft are at least offering a choice to new customers, and maintaining the value of the console tier of Xbox Game Pass to existing customers.

To us the sheer number of games in the Game Pass library still makes a compelling case for your hard earned money, especially as many new AAA games cost nearly as much as a yearly sub to the service. If you play a lot of games this subscription makes a lot of sense.