00:00Xbox Game Pass has officially gone through one of the biggest shakeups in its history
00:05and the reaction from the community has been far from positive.
00:09The centerpiece of this change is of course the price hike.
00:14Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now costs $29.99 a month.
00:19That is a 50% increase from the $19.99 price that most subscribers had gotten used to paying.
00:26For existing users, that new cost is going into effect starting November 4th, but for
00:32new subscribers, the higher price is already here.
00:36It's a steep jump and it's the kind of change that makes you stop and ask the question, what
00:41are we really getting for all that extra money?
00:45Microsoft has also reshuffled the Game Pass tiers, something that complicates things further
00:50for people who were used to the simple setup we had before.
00:54There's now Game Pass Essential which runs at $9.99 a month.
00:59That gets you access to around 50 titles with cloud support, a smaller trimmed down version
01:04of the service.
01:06The next level is Game Pass Premium priced at $14.99 a month.
01:11Premium opens up the library to more than 200 games, includes PC titles, cloud gaming and
01:17gives you access to rewards.
01:19Then of course there's the crown jewel, or maybe the source spot, depending on how you
01:24see it.
01:25Game Pass Ultimate.
01:27That is the one sitting at $29.99 a month.
01:31Ultimate promises more than 400 games, day one releases, Ubisoft Plus classics, Fortnite
01:37crew membership and the new reward system.
01:40On paper, that sounds like a lot of content.
01:43But the real question is whether the actual editions justify the biggest monthly increase
01:48Game Pass has ever had.
01:51When you look at the lineup of new games that Microsoft just added, it feels a little underwhelming.
01:56The titles announced include Assassin's Creed III Remastered and Assassin's Creed IV Black
02:01Flag.
02:02We also have Hogwarts Legacy which is obviously a newer edition, but not a day one title.
02:08Tom Clancy's The Division made its way into the catalog as well, along with Cities Skylines
02:13Remastered, Hades, Quake, and yes, Real Fortune.
02:18Because nothing screams premium value like having a decades old game show in your lineup.
02:22I'm sure that'll really get people rushing to subscribe.
02:28Now there's no denying that some of these games are good, even great.
02:31Titles like Hades or Assassin's Creed IV are fan favorites.
02:35But here's the thing, many of these games have either been available on other services
02:40before, or were already given out through Microsoft's old Games with Gold program.
02:45So for long time Xbox players, these don't feel new at all.
02:50Instead of giving the community something that feels fresh or exclusive, it feels like Microsoft
02:55just recycled titles that people had already had the opportunity to play years ago.
03:00What's especially disappointing is that after all the talk and all the hype about the
03:04Activision Blizzard merger, none of those titles were included in this batch.
03:09No Call of Duty, no Diablo, no Overwatch, not even a single Crash Bandicoot or Spyro game.
03:16Nothing that would make this price increase feels like it comes with a huge leap in value.
03:22And then there's the reward system, which has also been completely overhauled.
03:27For years, one of the biggest benefits of being an Xbox player was Microsoft Rewards.
03:33By completing daily activities, searches or challenges, you could stack up points and redeem
03:38them directly for Game Pass subscriptions.
03:41It was a straightforward system that made a lot of people feel like they were getting
03:44extra value.
03:46Starting today, that's gone.
03:48You can no longer directly redeem your rewards points for Game Pass.
03:52Instead, the system now forces you to redeem your points for Xbox gift cards and then use
03:58those gift cards to purchase a subscription.
04:02It's not only an extra set of steps, but it's also a sneaky way of raising the cost.
04:07The amount of points required to cover a month of Game Pass is effectively higher now.
04:12What used to feel like a rewarding player-friendly perk has turned into something that feels more
04:17like busy work, and at the end of the day, you're paying more.
04:22And here's where my frustration really sets in.
04:25Microsoft is asking for more money, but the value isn't keeping pace.
04:30A service started out as a great deal, an easy recommendation for friends, something that
04:36felt like it was really pushing the industry forward.
04:39Now it feels like it's slipping backward.
04:42Instead of innovating or rewarding loyalty, it feels like the decisions are being made to squeeze
04:47more from players without giving back the kind of content that would actually justify the
04:52increase.
04:53And honestly, I can't help but point the finger at leadership here.
04:57I've disagreed with Phil Spencer's decisions multiple times in the past, and this feels
05:02like yet another case where the vision just isn't there.
05:06Microsoft has spent years building up goodwill with Game Pass, but decisions like this risk
05:12burning through it quickly.
05:14At some point, maybe the responsibility of these calls should go to someone else, because
05:18right now, it doesn't feel like the direction is aligned with what players actually want.
05:26The lack of Activision Blizzard content right out of the gate is baffling.
05:30The price increase feels aggressive, the game lineup feels recycled, and the changes to the
05:36reward system turn something that used to be simple and appealing into a headache.
05:41It's disappointing, because Game Pass was once the shining example of how subscription
05:46gaming could be done right.
05:47It made Xbox feel like it had something unique to offer, something no other platform could
05:52match.
05:53But with each new move like this, the service feels less like a revolution, and more like
05:58just another overpriced subscription.
06:00For me personally, this isn't worth the extra cost.
06:05Until Microsoft shows a real commitment to delivering big new titles, until they make use of the Activision
06:10Blizzard catalog they spent so much money on, and until they find a way to respect the players
06:16who have been loyal to the service for years, it's really hard to justify the new price tag.
06:21It's not that there aren't good games here, it's that the majority of them don't feel
06:25new or exciting, and the ones that do, aren't enough to offset the frustration of the changes.
06:32So here's where I land, I'm disappointed.
06:35This isn't what Game Pass was supposed to be, and it's not the kind of updates that make
06:39me excited for the future of the service.
06:41I hope Microsoft takes the backlash seriously, because right now, this feels like a step in
06:47the wrong direction, and for me, it's a decision that makes sure I won't be subscribing to Game
06:53Pass anytime soon.
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