In a massive show of force, gamers have flocked to cancel their Xbox Game Pass subscriptions following a substantial price increase for the top-tier service, overloading Microsoft’s website for cancellations. The company officially announced a restructuring of the Game Pass tiers, but the major news is the huge 50% price hike for the Ultimate plan, which now costs a whopping $29.99 a month, up from the previous $19.99.
It’s a significant financial blow that has driven many fans to call for a “boycott” of the service, with some even nicknaming it “Xbox Pay Everywhere”. The decision to nearly double the price of the Ultimate plan over a very short period, from $17 just last year, has clearly backfired on Microsoft, at least in the short term.
Gamers Are Cancelling Game Pass in Droves
The sheer volume of users rushing to cancel or downgrade their subscriptions in the early hours of Wednesday was so great that the specific web page for subscription changes became overloaded, with many users reporting errors and crashes. It seems like Microsoft didn’t anticipate the traffic, which one user was quick to point out as “scummy business practice”.
Some users even reported that the only way they could get their cancellation or downgrade requests to go through was by switching browsers. The new Game Pass structure now breaks down into three tiers, moving away from the old Core and Standard names: Essential at $9.99 a month, Premium at $14.99 a month, and Ultimate at the new $29.99 a month.
The Ultimate tier is where all the biggest changes (and the biggest anger) are focused. This is the only tier that keeps day-one access to new Xbox first-party titles, now with a promised 75+ day-one releases per year. On top of that, Ultimate subscribers get a huge 500+ game library, access to Ubisoft+ Classics, and Fortnite Crew bundled in starting in November.
They also get better cloud gaming with 1440p resolution streaming and the shortest wait times. On the other hand, the Premium tier, which is the replacement for the old Standard plan and stays at $14.99 a month, has a larger library of about 200 titles but delays those day-one Xbox first-party releases for up to a year.
The base Essential tier, which costs $9.99 a month, includes a curated list of around 50 games, online multiplayer, and cloud gaming. For people who were only interested in playing day-one releases, which was a huge selling point for Game Pass, it feels like they’re being forced into the massively more expensive Ultimate tier.
The backlash has been swift and loud across the community. Reddit threads were quickly filled with angry posts from players canceling their subscriptions. One post that gained a lot of traction was titled: “I’m canceling my subscription after the ridiculous price increase and you should do the same!”
The Price Is Just Too High
For many, the new yearly cost of $360 for Ultimate is simply too much, especially in a tough economic environment. As one user put it, “$30 is too much for me at the moment. It sucks cause it was awesome for a family of gamers”. Others have pointed out that at this cost, you might as well just buy the games you want outright, especially with sales, instead of being on the hook for $360 a year.
I honestly can’t believe Microsoft thought this much of a price increase was a good move. While they’ve tried to justify the increase by adding value with services like Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew, it’s clear that many players just want a solid, affordable gaming library. Affordable, meaning not an extra $10 a month.
As someone who loves a good deal, seeing a service go from being one of the best values in gaming to one of the most expensive is a real letdown. The mass cancellations that literally crashed the subscription page are a clear message from gamers speaking up with their wallets. Now, it’s a waiting game to see if Microsoft will backtrack or if this is the new normal for a service that many have come to rely on.
Source: The Game Post, Xbox Wire
