History of Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes Explained

For the best part of a decade, Xbox Game Pass has been widely considered to be one of the best deals in gaming, with it giving players access to a library of hundreds of games for just one monthly price. But that deal's just gotten a little worse. Microsoft has just unveiled a new three-tier system for Xbox Game Pass, along with a not-so-subtle price hike to go alongside them.

The long and short of it is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is getting a $10 increase, going from $19.99 to $29.99. That's a steep jump, and naturally, the current subscriber base is reeling a little. While some subscribers believe Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's new features justify the price increase, others aren't as happy with the changes. The latter group made their frustration known by attempting to cancel their subscription the moment the news broke on Wednesday, which led to the Game Pass webpage crashing. But while this is certainly the most egregious price hike in Xbox Game Pass history, it's far from the first.

The Full History of Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes

For two years after its debut, Xbox Game Pass remained a simple $9.99 a month, one-tier subscription system. But in June 2019, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was introduced, combining Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for both console and PC for $14.99 per month. With Xbox Live Gold costing $10 on its own, $15 for Game Pass Ultimate was actually a pretty great deal.

In August 2023, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate received a $2 price increase, as did its standard Console tier, which had stayed at $9.99 since its introduction in 2017. It's important to note, however, that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate did increase its library size from 191 games in June 2019 to 429 in August 2023, more than doubling the number of available experiences between price hikes.

In July 2024, Microsoft announced another round of changes. Along with a $3 increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass' Console tier was replaced with Xbox Game Pass Standard, a $14.99 a month service that offered a more limited selection of games and did not include day-one titles.

Microsoft has just detailed another overhaul of Xbox Game Pass, coming just 15 months after the last one. Xbox Game Pass will now be split into three tiers: Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Each tier has its own price tag and set of features, but the most important detail to take away is that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $29.99 per 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?

Along with an admittedly gigantic library of over 400 games, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now includes all of Ubisoft+ Classics' library, which itself has over 50 games. Along with this vast assortment of experiences, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is committed to offering over 75 day-one titles a year, including those published by Xbox. In terms of day-one additions, 2025 has arguably been Xbox Game Pass' best year ever, 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 all hitting the service in the last 10 months.

Though we don't have a full list of everything coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2026, it has the potential to be another very strong year for day-one launches. Fable, Forza Horizon 6, Gears of War: E-Day, and High on Life 2 are just some of the games confirmed to be coming to Game Pass next year, assuming they're not hit with any major delays.

In the case of Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Gears of War: E-Day, these titles are likely to cost around $70 each. With that in mind, $30 for a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate doesn't seem all that unreasonable, it just means that fans might need to be a bit more tactical with their Game Pass subscription. At $30 a month, it might be wise for those who primarily subscribe to Game Pass for day-one titles to only sign up when a new game releases, one that they're happy spending $30 to try out and play for a month but not one they're willing to dish out $70 for.

For those who primarily play their games on Xbox and/or PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate might still be worth the money regardless. $30 a month is steep for a subscription service, but it's not as egregious if Xbox players are happy with the new games they're getting every month and don't feel the need to purchase any additional titles outside the service.

The addition of Fortnite Crew might also be enough to convince some Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers to keep renewing every month, itself charging $11.99 to give fans all of the game's various Battle Passes and 1,000 V-Bucks every month.

Personally, I'm going to have to change my Xbox Game Pass habits. I've been subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate on and off since its debut back in 2019, often grabbing a few months at a time when I know the service is about to add a handful of games I'm interested in. But with the hike to $30, I'm going to have to be even more selective with my renewals.

That's especially true as I don't have much use for any of the new "upgrades" Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is now offering. I play Fortnite quite a bit, but I don't usually pick up any Battle Passes (I'm good with my TMNT skins). I already own most of the games in the Ubisoft+ Classics library. And my internet isn't quite up to snuff for high-quality Cloud gaming. For me, that $10 leap is just too high.