Xbox Game Pass Needs a Yearly Subscription Option

It’s a rough time to be an Xbox Game Pass subscriber. The subscription service has long been touted as the best deal in the gaming industry, offering a huge library of games for a relatively reasonable cost. It’s been subject to price increases in the past, but it wasn’t until the newest price hike spiked the Ultimate subscription to $30 a month that things got out of hand.

$30 a month is a lot of money. Sure, you can get Hollow Knight: Silksong on the service, but you could also buy it outright for $20. Even $70 games would be almost paid for in two months, so if you’re only using the service to play a few AAAs every year, it’s suddenly pretty hard to justify. While there’s one way that Microsoft could alleviate this problem, I’m losing faith that they’ll ever implement it.

Xbox Game Pass Needs A Yearly Subscription Model

Ultimate Deserves A Discount

Right now, if you want Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the $30 monthly subscription is the only option available to you. Want to pay for a year of the service? That’ll be $360, thanks. Xbox occasionally does Game Pass promotional offers, but on the average day, there’s no option for a discount.

Game Pass isn’t the only service to take this tack. Netflix, for example, also refuses to offer a yearly subscription alternative. But Netflix also doesn’t cost $30. You’d think that paying a sum that hefty for 12 months straight would entitle you to some extra appreciation. Now that Xbox has lost the hardware edge, loyal Game Pass subscribers are its bread-and-butter.

Sticker Shock Could Kill A Yearly Game Pass Subscription

Even $300 Would Be A Terrifying Sum

While the $30 price hike should be the perfect time for Microsoft to introduce a yearly Ultimate option, I’m afraid that it could actually be the permanent death knell of any shot at the feature. Let’s say a yearly subscription knocked things down from $360 to $300. It would be a pretty sizable discount, but it would still highlight just how expensive the service has become. At launch, you could get an Xbox Series S for that price. No matter how many games you play, it’s a lot to pay for temporary access.

The intense sticker shock of a yearly subscription could easily backfire for Xbox Game Pass. Looking at $30 in isolation, it’s easy to pretend that it doesn’t add up as quickly as it does. You can justify a month of Game Pass as the cost of a movie date, for example. $300 is a lot harder to brush off, and it might make potential subscribers more reluctant to consider either monthly or yearly options.

Of course, Ultimate isn’t the only option for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. Essential and Premium come in at $9.99 and $14.99, respectively, which is a much easier pill to swallow. Surely offering a year of Essential for $100 would be reasonable, and it could come with an upgrade plan if you wanted to switch to Premium or Ultimate later on.

At this point, though, Xbox might just be allergic to providing discounts. The Series X console recently shot up to a new MSRP of $649.99, which seems like it would be impossible to sell. While tariffs and inflation have caused price increases across the board, that’s $100 more than the cost of the competing PS5, a system that moved more units even when the prices were the same.

Xbox’s Business Model Is Increasingly Frustrating

Maybe Subscriptions Weren’t The Way To Go

Of course, I don’t have all the numbers that Microsoft does, and there might be very good reasons for most of the current pricing decisions. I do have common sense, though, which tells me that $360 is a lot to spend on any form of Xbox Game Pass. It’s a 50% increase from how much it cost last month, and when people are already having to make cost-cutting decisions, a premium subscription service that just skyrocketed in price might be one of the first things to go.

I’m pretty selective about subscriptions, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a no-go for me, whether it offers a yearly discount or not. All the same, I believe in options. If something is going to be that expensive, the least that Microsoft can do is give consumers a little more choice.

More than anything, I hope that the obstinate approach to pricing doesn’t end up hurting any more studios under Microsoft’s gaming umbrella. I’m still saddened by the shutdown of Arkane Austin and Tango Gameworks, although the latter came back to life at Krafton this year. Recent games like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle have picked up a lot of players on Game Pass, and narrowing that audience might jeopardize the prospects of great studios like MachineGames.

Over the past decade, the financial struggles of major film companies have thoroughly proven that entertainment subscriptions are a tough business model. Will Microsoft’s wild maneuvers turn out any different? Probably not. Regardless, you’ll have to renew your ticket every month to stay aboard this potentially sinking ship.

Brand

Xbox

Original Release Date

November 10, 2020

Original MSRP (USD)

Series X priced at US$499 and the Series S priced at US$299

Weight

9.8 lb