At $29.99, Game Pass Ultimate is far from an affordable option for Xbox fans to play and stream games. It seems that Xbox agrees with that point.
In a leaked memo acquired by The Verge, newly-appointed Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said Game Pass is important to the Xbox brand. As a result, Microsoft needs to find a balance with its pricing.
“Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation,” said Sharma in the memo.
“Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around.”
The memo does not provide a remedy to the pricing issue. However, thanks to price increases, value is front and center.
Originally costing $499.99, the Xbox Series X now costs a penny shy of $650 due to price hikes over the near-six years since its release. The PlayStation 5 has also seen price increases, with the Pro version now costing an eye-watering $900.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has yet to buckle under the financial pressure, but there have been murmurings of a price increase in the near future.
As for Game Pass, you could save some money and go with the Essential tier. However, it’s limited to a little over 50 games as opposed to Premium’s 200 titles and Ultimate’s 400 titles.
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