A week ago, Microsoft caused an uproar in the Xbox gaming community when it announced a revamp of its Xbox Game Pass service, adding new tiers, more benefits, and a significant price hike of 50% for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. Now that the dust has settled down a bit, the Redmond tech giant has good news for customers in some regions.
As reported by The Verge, Microsoft sent out emails to Xbox Game Pass subscribers across some countries, including Germany, Ireland, South Korea, Poland, and India, informing them that existing customers with auto-recurring billing enabled can continue renewing their subscriptions at the old rates. However, new customers or those who cancel their subscriptions and try to subscribe again will have to subscribe at new rates, which, in terms of dollar value, stand at $29.99/month in the United States.
However, this good news may be short-lived as it likely relates to Microsoft complying with local regulations in the aforementioned countries, which enforces vendors to inform existing customers beforehand about upcoming price hikes. Kari Perez, the head of Xbox communications, is quoted as saying:
Our recent Game Pass update remains unchanged. Current subscribers in certain countries will continue renewing at their existing price for now, in line with local requirements. We’ll provide advance notice before price adjustments take effect in these countries.
The email also indicates that Microsoft will inform gamers in these regions about a price hike at least 60 days in advance, which means that they can mark themselves safe for at least two months.
Microsoft faced a lot of backlash for suddenly increasing the cost of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $19.99/month to $29.99/month last week. It tried to justify this hike by offering new benefits such as EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, and Fortnite Crew. However, the community hasn"t really responded positively, and it will be an uphill battle for Microsoft trying to convince subscribers to stay. But if you"re in the U.S. and want to dabble with Game Pass, you"re in luck, as Amazon is still selling the subscription at the old rates.