Xbox Game Pass: Gamers cancel subscription service in droves after price hike as Micosoft website crashes
Thousands of Xbox Game Pass subscribers have been cancelling their direct debits after a monumental price hike.
Microsoft is restructuring Xbox Game Pass and raising prices across the board, with the top tier now costing £22.99 per month.
This is an increase from £14, signalling a more 50 per cent mark-up by Microsoft for a digital subscription service.
Xbox Game Pass gives gamers on Xbox consoles access to online multiplayer, as well as a library of games from a rotating catalogue. In a blog post, Microsoft announced that the service would now have three subscription tiers.
Game Pass essential (£6.99) will give players 50 free games in their catalogue, which is frequently rotated with different titles. There is also a premium tier (£10.99) for 200+ games.
The ultimate tier (£22.99) offers gamers 400+ games, cloud upgrades, day-one releases, plus Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew subscriptions.
PC Game Pass remains separate, with day-one releases and Ubisoft titles included. Its price has risen to £13.49.
Microsoft is also tightening how its rewards system works. Points can no longer be redeemed directly for Game Pass subscriptions; users will need to redeem them for gift cards instead.
The shake-up comes as Xbox faces questions over the profitability of Game Pass. Despite generating nearly $5bn in annual revenue last year and contributing to Microsoft’s 18% per cent overall revenue growth, critics argue the model may undercut direct game sales.
Earlier this week, Microsoft also increased the price of its Xbox hardware in the US - but this Game Pass change was the final straw for many.
Following the announcement, the web page for players to cancel their Game Pass subscriptions actually crashed from receiving so much traffic, with the discourse on social media indicating that thousands of people were cancelling their subscriptions.