Microsoft’s gaming division has been one of the most culturally impactful companies in the industry.  Their creation of the original Xbox took the gaming world by storm with flagship titles such as Halo, Gears of War, Forza, and Fable.

One of the most influential programs that has come from the company’s gaming division is the Xbox Game Pass, which allowed users to play a premium catalogue of over 500 games for a set monthly price. In the last 3 years, the price of Game Pass has risen dramatically. Coming on the heels of the Xbox ROG Ally, their newest handheld console, Game Pass is getting a rework that has been putting Xbox fans in an uproar.

As of October 1^st, 2025, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Edition has reached a total of $29.99 per month, a 50% increase from its original price tag of $19.99. The jump between these prices is the largest mark up in the Game Pass’s history. This has not gone without pushback from the general audience. Current members of Xbox Live vocalized concerns over affordability. This incidentally led to mass cancellations. The situation came to a head when, as reported by The Gamer, the number of cancellations crashed Xbox’s store front servers.

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Alongside this change in price, Xbox has changed the way discounts work for customers with their various Game Pass packages. Normally, subscribers of any tier would receive a 10% discount on downloadable content (DLC) and video games. Instead, as of October 3^rd, only select games can have a special deal for Ultimate subscribers.

To compensate, subscribers are given a percentage of any purchase back in points which can be spent on any product in their online stores at the rates of 10% for Ultimate subscribers and 5% for Premium subscribers.

Despite consumer feedback, Microsoft, as represented by Director of Gaming Dustin Blackwell, has reinforced their stance with The Verge, mentioning, “We understand price increases are never fun for anybody, but we’re trying to reinforce by adding more value to these plans as well.” The value mentioned being higher resolution stream quality for their cloud games and an increase of titles available at launch on Game Pass in 2026.

Despite this, the community at large does not feel like the added value is worth the cost; according to a recent IGN poll of 35,000  voters, only 20.7% of people say that they would continue paying for their membership.

While Microsoft increased the price of their subscription on their websites, major retailers like Best Buy, Walmart, and Amazon have yet to change the price of physical Game Pass codes. Major game sellers are pushing back against Microsoft’s price hikes across the board.

An official message from GameStop’s X.com page declares that they will still price the Ultimate edition pass for $19.99. This has been met with general praise from consumers, though users in the comments speculate this will only last until the storefronts run out of the cheaper codes.

It hasn’t been all doom and gloom with Microsoft’s Cloud Gaming model. There have been a couple of positive features added for those who don’t want their higher tier subscriptions. According to The Verge, Microsoft will soon unveil a new free to play version of their Game Pass. With a limit of 5 hours per month, you can play their streaming service for free. In exchange, consumers will need to watch two minutes of advertisements per gaming session.

For those who don’t want the ads, Microsoft has added revamped version of their Game Pass Core. Now called Game Pass Essential, for $9.99 a month fans can play a selection of 50 games on both console and PC. This model kept the same price as its predecessor while adding more features.

During their official Xbox podcast, Microsoft’s VP Jason Ronald has this to say: “I think for us, it really opens up the opportunity to make it much more affordable and make it more accessible to players. Whether that’s going into new regions, or new ways to actually access the [Xbox] cloud.”

With the rising costs of gaming, it is tough to play your favorite titles. This has brought fans together to fight back against the rising prices. We will see in the coming months if the decision to raise prices was a smart one, or if it hurts their bottom line in the long run.