Xbox Game Pass set for price hike and new ‘Standard’ tier

Xbox Game Pass is getting another price hike, with a new ‘Standard’ tier stepping in to offer another option for those who don’t want to pay full whack.

Microsoft has started sending out emails to customers announcing a new structure for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Starting later today, the top Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier will cost £14.99 / $19.99 / €17.99 per month (via VGC). That’s an increase of £2 / $3 / €3 each month.

PC Game Pass is also increasing in price to £9.99 / $11.99 / €11.99 per month.

There’s now a new tier to consider when you’re signing up, too. In place of the outgoing Xbox Game Pass for Console, there’s now a new Xbox Game Pass Standard tier. This grants access to the usual back catalogue of games and online play, but doesn’t let you play day one releases of cloud gaming.

Those day one games may become available on the new Xbox Game Pass Standard tier further down the line, Microsoft says.

Existing subscribers to Xbox Game Pass for Console will be allowed to keep subscribing to the otherwise obsolete tier with all of its benefits, including day one game access. Just make sure you don’t let that membership lapse, as there’ll be no way back.

It was around this time last year that Microsoft last hiked its Xbox Game Pass prices. The company insisted at the time that this was not related to its costly $69 billion Activision Blizzard deal.

With Microsoft recently shuttering several of its studios and a general acceptance that it’s lost the initiative this console generation, it might now be seeking to recoup some of those costs.

There’s also the small matter of new Call of Duty titles likely being added to Game Pass at some point.