Microsoft Tries To Defend Xbox Game Pass Price Increase

While speaking with The Verge, Microsoft’s director of gaming and platform communications Dustin Blackwell spoke about the move and said it’s something they didn’t “take lightly” as a company.

“We understand price increases are never fun for anybody, but we’re trying to reinforce by adding more value to these plans as well,” Blackwell said. “It’s something we don’t take lightly, and we’re listening to the feedback of players and the community to try to provide them with more of what they’re asking for.”

Blackwell also spoke about what the service is now providing players across it’s multiple tiers. Blackwell touted the increase to the game library, cloud gaming, and day one releases.

“We’re also now giving access to more than 75 day one releases each year,” he said. “That’s a 50 percent increase over the day one titles we provided last year.”

He also pointed to the Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew additions as another added benefit for players with this new cost.

In addition to the Game Pass Ultimate price increase, Microsoft raised the cost of PC Game Pass from $11.99 to $16.49 per month. Both PC Game Pass and Ultimate subscribers will get day one releases. Those on the Premium plan will get first-party Xbox games within a year of launch, except for Call of Duty.

Are you sticking with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate after the price increase?