Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is facing one of its toughest moments after a sudden, steep increase to the Ultimate tier sparked a wave of cancellations and site outages as subscribers rushed to change or cancel plans.
The most dramatic change hit the Game Pass Ultimate plan, which experienced an immediate 50% monthly price rise in several markets. The hike prompted many subscribers to either disable auto-renewal or downgrade to lower-cost tiers.
Within hours of the announcement, Microsoft’s subscription-management pages experienced heavy traffic that reportedly caused temporary outages, preventing some users from updating or accessing their accounts. Social platforms — Reddit in particular — filled with users sharing screenshots and complaints about being unable to modify plans.
Why Game Pass’ prices hiked?
Game Pass Ultimate’s price has climbed significantly over the past two years: the tier moved from €14.99 (prior to June 2023) to €17.99 after an increase in 2024, and now to €26.99 in 2025. What began as a standout value proposition is increasingly being scrutinized by players who question whether monthly access to a rotating library justifies the rising cost compared with outright game ownership.
“The appeal of day-one access is strong, but paying a premium for temporary access is changing the calculus for many players,” says the reaction from multiple community threads.
The Ultimate tier’s most attractive benefit — day-one releases — is central to the controversy. Microsoft says the changes respond to player feedback and the need to balance value with sustainability, but the subscriber exodus suggests many do not see the new price as reasonable for what is effectively temporary access to titles.
From Microsoft’s perspective, Game Pass is evolving into an “ultra-premium” subscription that must generate higher revenue per user. However, that strategy depends on retaining or growing a stable base of Ultimate subscribers. The problem is structural: Microsoft pays publishers for day-one deals regardless of subscriber numbers. A shrinking Ultimate base reduces the economics of securing those agreements, potentially undermining the day-one model itself.
With the annualized cost approaching €320, some subscribers are weighing whether to invest the same money in a curated library of purchased games — taking advantage of post-launch discounts rather than subscribing for uninterrupted access.
Industry observers are now debating Microsoft’s long-term intention. Is Game Pass being positioned as a premium, niche offering for deeply engaged players, or is the company risking alienation of the broader audience that helped make the service ubiquitous? Given Xbox’s comparatively smaller role in the console market, analysts say Microsoft may need to reconsider the balance between platform strategy and subscription profitability.
For now, Game Pass stands at a crossroads. Whether it will remain a broadly adopted gaming staple or become a high-end subscription for a narrower segment will depend largely on Microsoft’s next moves and subscribers’ response in the coming months.
