Microsoft Increases Game Pass Ultimate Subscription Price By 50%

Yesterday. Microsoft surprisingly changed things so that reward points can no longer be used for Xbox Game Pass subscriptions. As it turns out, there's a good reason for that, and it's all because of a price hike.

Microsoft calls this price increase as a way of "evolving" Game Pass, as the company has announced updates to the service. Instead of Core, Standard and Ultimate, we are now getting Essential, Premium, and Ultimate tiers.

While Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is increasing its price significantly, there are now more options for gamers on what kind of Game Pass experience they prefer.

Xbox Game Pass New Prices And Updates

The new tiers and pricing are available below. Note that Core members will now automatically move to Esssential, Standard subscribers will transform to Premium, and Ultimate members will remain in the same tier, though now with a significant price increase.

Essential

• Price: $9.99/month
• 50+ games (Playable on PC, Console, & Cloud)
• Unlimited cloud gaming
• In-game benefits (e.g. Riot Games content)
• Online console multiplayer
• Earn up to $25/year in Microsoft Store Rewards

Premium

• Price: $14.99/month
• 200+ games (Playable on PC, Console, & Cloud)
• New Xbox-published games within a year of launch
• Unlimited cloud gaming (with shorter wait times)
• In-game benefits
• Online console multiplayer
• Earn up to $50/year in Store Rewards

Ultimate

• Price: $29.99/month
• 400+ games (Playable on PC, Console, & Cloud)
• 75+ day-one games/year, including all Xbox-published day-one titles
• Ubisoft+ Classics and EA Play included
• Fortnite Crew coming in November
• Best cloud gaming performance (lowest latency, fastest queue)
• In-game benefits
• Online console multiplayer
• Earn up to $100/year in Store Rewards

This is a bummer for a lot of Xbox fans who are not only looking for a win most of the time now that the Xbox is going multi-platform, but for those who rely on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to be able to play newly-released games while on a budget.

In other Xbox news, the Xbox ROG Ally X's price has officially been revealed, and calling it expensive might be an understatement for a gaming device.

There was a slew of Xbox games announced at the recently-concluded Tokyo Game Show, though just remember that most -- if not all --- these games will be hitting other console platforms as well.

Will the price hike affect your Xbox Game Pass subscription? Leave a comment and let us know.