In a massive announcement, Microsoft has reduced the price of several tiers in Game Pass with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $29.99 per month to now $22.99 per month and PC Game Pass now at $13.99 from the earlier price of $16.49. All changes are set to take effect immediately while also removing new Call of Duty games from day-one releases in both tiers of Game Pass and which will only be available “during the following holiday season (about a year later)” on the popular subscription service. It’s also noted that the new prices ‘may vary by region’, but nonetheless the price slash is definitely welcome which will likely help widen the reach of Game Pass even more.
The new CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Asha Sharma, has revealed the drop in prices while stating the following:
“Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will continue to have access to hundreds of games on Xbox console and PC including current Call of Duty titles, in-game benefits, online console multiplayer, and major day one releases.”
“Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far. We’ll continue to listen and learn.”
But while the (slightly) reduced prices can make a difference for players who are in Microsoft’s Game Pass, it doesn’t really address the main issue that many industry veterans have already pointed out in the past, which is Game Pass itself. The problem with subscription services is that they place too much control in the hands of the companies and almost none to the actual players and if services like Game Pass continue to become even more successful with moves like these, there could be a time where the megacorporations who control the videogame industry decide to make the entire medium run solely on subscriptions which means players would lose all control over their games altogether.
There are other reasons why subscriptions services aren’t nearly as great as the companies would have us believe, and here are some of them as spoken by Former chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios Shawn Layden and the former vice president of Bethesda Softworks Pete Hines.
