Xbox Game Pass to receive price increases, new tier and changes

If you haven’t already heard — either through social media or an email from Xbox — let us be the first to inform you that the price of an Xbox Game Pass subscription is going up. Other changes are also headed the service’s way, including alterations to existing plans and a new tier.

While Xbox has yet to send us a press release, we did receive an email stating that the cost of a month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be going up to $22.99 Canadian.

Jez Corden of Windows Central helped break this story, and according to him these will be the upcoming changes:

  • Xbox Game Pass for Console will soon be unavailable to new users
  • Existing users will be able to keep their subscription and day one games
  • New subscribers will soon be offered a ‘Standard’ tier subscription. It will be $14.99 (USD) per month, and will include online multiplayer. However, it will not include day one releases or Xbox Cloud Gaming.
  • Starting on September 13th, users will only be able to stack 13 months’ worth of Game Pass for Console using prepaid cards. Existing subscriptions will not be changed.
  • As stated above, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is going up in price, to $19.99 USD and $22.99 CAD. It will otherwise remain unaffected.
  • PC Game Pass is going up to $11.99 USD per month.
  • Xbox Game Pass Core is increasing to $74.99 USD per year, but will remain at $9.99 per month.
  • Other countries will receive price increases too. Check for yours here.
  • For those with recurring billing, these price increases will take effect on September 12th.

This isn’t great news, but it’s also not surprising given the news that Call of Duty is coming to Game Pass, including Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 on its day of release.