History of Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes Explained

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For almost ten years, Xbox Game Pass has been known as one of the greatest values in gaming, letting players enjoy hundreds of games with a single monthly subscription. However, that value has recently decreased. Microsoft has announced a new three-level system for Xbox Game Pass, and it comes with a price increase.

Basically, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is becoming more expensive – it’s going up by $10, from $19.99 to $29.99. That’s a significant increase, and understandably, many current members are surprised. Some subscribers think the new features added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate make the higher price worthwhile, but others disagree. Those unhappy with the change immediately tried to cancel their subscriptions when the news came out on Wednesday, which caused the Game Pass website to crash. However, while this is the biggest price increase ever for Xbox Game Pass, it’s not the first time the price has gone up. It’s important to note that this isn’t a new occurrence.

The Full History of Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes

Date of Price Hike Price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate per Month (USD) Games Available on the Service
June 2017 9.99 (only one tier of Xbox Game Pass was available) 110
June 2019 14.99 191
August 2023 16.99 429
July 2024 19.99 492
October 2025 29.99 838

For the first two years after it launched, Xbox Game Pass was a straightforward service costing $9.99 per month – it only had one subscription level. However, in June 2019, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was added. This new tier combined Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for both consoles and PC, and it cost $14.99 a month. Considering that Xbox Live Gold already cost $10 by itself, the $15 price for Game Pass Ultimate was a really good value. It offered a lot for the price.

In August 2023, the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate went up by $2. The standard Console tier also saw a price increase, ending its long-held price of $9.99, which had been in place since 2017. It’s worth mentioning that the number of games available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has grown significantly – from 191 in June 2019 to 429 in August 2023. This means the game library more than doubled in size between the price changes.

In July 2024, Microsoft revealed a new set of updates. In addition to a $3 price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the Xbox Game Pass Console tier was discontinued and replaced with Xbox Game Pass Standard, a service costing $14.99 per month. This new tier offers fewer games and doesn’t include titles on their release day.

Microsoft recently announced significant changes to Xbox Game Pass, less than a year and a quarter after the previous update. The service will now be offered in three levels: Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Each tier comes with different pricing and features. The key takeaway is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $29.99 each month.

Is Xbox Game Pass Worth It Now? (October 2025)

Everything Included in Xbox Game Pass’ New Tiers

Xbox Game Pass Essential Tier ($13.99 per month):

  • 50+ Games
  • Unlimited Cloud Gaming
  • Online console multiplayer
  • Earn up to 25,000 reward points per year

Xbox Game Pass Premium Tier ($17.99 per month):

  • 200+ Games
  • New Xbox published games within a year of launch
  • Unlimited Cloud Gaming with shorter wait times
  • Earn up to 50,000 reward points per year

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Tier ($29.99 per month):

  • 400+ Games
  • 75+ day one games a year, including Xbox published games
  • Unlimited Cloud Gaming at a higher quality and shortest wait times
  • Ubisoft+ Classics included
  • EA Play included
  • Fortnite Crew included (as of November 2025)
  • Earn up to 100,000 reward points per year

Is Xbox Game Pass Still a Good Deal?

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now offers an incredibly large selection of games – over 400, in fact! It also includes the entire library of Ubisoft+ Classics, adding another 50+ titles. Beyond this huge collection, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate promises to release more than 75 games on the day of their launch each year, including games from Xbox itself. 2025 has been a particularly strong year for new additions to the service, with titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Blue Prince, Doom: The Dark Ages, Hollow Knight: Silksong, The Alters, and The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered becoming available in the last 10 months.

We don’t yet have a complete schedule of games arriving on Xbox Game Pass in 2026, but it’s shaping up to be another excellent year for games available on launch day. Fable, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War: E-Day, and High on Life 2 are among the titles confirmed for Game Pass next year, provided there aren’t any significant setbacks.

So, looking at games like Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Gears of War: E-Day, those are probably going to be around $70 apiece. When you think about that, $30 for a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate doesn’t sound *too* bad, honestly. It just means we might need to be a little smarter about *how* we use our Game Pass. If you’re mainly getting Game Pass for those day-one releases, it might make sense to only subscribe when a new game comes out – one that you’d be willing to pay $30 to try for a month, but not $70 to buy outright. It’s all about being tactical!

If you mainly game on Xbox and/or PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate could still be a good value. While $30 per month is a significant cost for a subscription, it feels more reasonable if Xbox players enjoy the new games added each month and don’t need to buy any extra games outside of the service.

Adding the Fortnite Crew subscription could also be enough to encourage some Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to continue renewing their subscriptions each month. This service currently costs $11.99 and provides fans with access to all of the game’s Battle Passes, plus 1,000 V-Bucks every month.

I’m going to need to adjust how I use Xbox Game Pass. I’ve been an on-and-off subscriber to Game Pass Ultimate since it first launched in 2019, usually signing up for a few months whenever there were a bunch of games coming to the service that I wanted to play. However, with the price increase to $30, I’ll have to be even more careful about when I renew my subscription.

That’s particularly true because I don’t really need the new features Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is offering. I play Fortnite often, but I typically don’t buy Battle Passes-I’m happy with my TMNT skins. I already have most of the games included in the Ubisoft+ Classics collection. Plus, my internet connection isn’t fast enough for good cloud gaming. Because of all that, the $10 price increase feels too expensive for me.

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2025-10-03 16:05