As speculated by many over the past months, Xbox will be increasing the prices for its Game Pass service as of July 10 for new members and Sept. 12 for existing ones. The company will also be launching Game Pass Standard which won’t include day one releases, among other features.
Microsoft announced the changes today and outlined them in an Xbox Support post. Game Pass Ultimate will now be running for $19.99 in the United States, though not every region will be affected in the same manner. The company has made a full list of regions and countries and how pricing will be adjusted in each. Microsoft will also be killing off the Game Pass for Console option and replace it with the new Game Pass Standard, a limited $14.99 tier that will not include day one Game Pass releases, nor some particular titles available to Game Pass Ultimate subscribers.
Game Pass Standard users will also not have access to EA Play, EA’s subscription-based service, nor to some other perks such as discounts on Game Pass titles. Those who are already subscribed to Game Pass for Console will be allowed to stay with the service for the foreseeable future.
Game Pass Ultimate isn’t the only one that will see a price increase. PC Game Pass, too, will be hiked up to $11.99 per month in the US, while Game Pass Core will be boosted to $74.99 annually, or $9.99 per month. These price changes start on July 10 for every new subscriber, while existing users are getting a grace period until Sept. 12 when they, too, will have to pay up.
These price adjustments aren’t the first Microsoft has made to the service, though they are the first major restructuring of the model, which is likely to do with Call of Duty being added to the service, as well as the company’s efforts at bumping up its revenue stream from gaming.
