After price change, Xbox Game Pass users are canceling subscriptions so fast that Microsoft's website is struggling to keep up — and I don't blame them

Xbox game pass gift cards are seen in a store in Krakow, Poland.
A close-up screenshot of Xbox Game Pass gift cards in a shop in Krakow, Poland. (Image credit: Getty Images | NurPhoto)

Microsoft's buffet-style service, Xbox Game Pass, has cemented itself as the core of the firm's gaming business, with the program swelling to 34+ million subscribers in the years since its introduction in 2017. Its members enjoy open access to a large catalog of both first-party and third-party titles across Xbox and other platforms in exchange for a monthly fee, making it a pretty cost-effective way to enjoy games in the modern socioeconomic landscape.

However, while Game Pass has been very popular for a very long time, a new restructuring of the program by Microsoft has proven to be quite controversial. That overhaul came on Wednesday morning, with the company bringing Ubisoft+ games to the service, new tiers, more widespread availability on PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming, and a $11.99/month Fortnite Crew subscription (1,000 V-Bucks, special unlocks) to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Game Pass has been at the heart of Microsoft's Xbox business for years now, though the Ultimate price hike may end up doing some serious damage to its reputation. (Image credit: Windows Central | Jez Corden)

One look at the Xbox subreddit says it all, where at the time of writing, the majority of the top and rising posts are from fans angry and frustrated with the increased cost of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

"I'm not paying that much," reads one of the most-upvoted comments on the subreddit's top post on the news. "I renewed my subscription about a month ago at the lower price. Won’t be renewing again after this one expires," asserted a user replying in agreement.

"That's going to price so many people out, and really ironic after they literally just talked about it being profitable," added another. "It's just not worth it for casual gamers, especially since you can get quite a few games each month for $30 in the sales. $360 a year is nuts for a subscription service."

Notably, the price shift has even seemingly led to a sharp uptick in Xbox Game Pass cancellations, to the point where Microsoft's website is struggling to properly load — making people think the company was preventing them from backing out of their subscription.

Notably, the price shift has even seemingly led to a sharp uptick in Xbox Game Pass cancellations, to the point where Microsoft's website is struggling to properly load — making people think the company was preventing them from backing out of their subscription. This isn't the case, though, after struggling to load the cancellation page myself, I can confirm that there definitely seems to be heightened traffic (check out our guide on canceling Game Pass if you're planning to).

"Their site is 100% getting overloaded right now from people like me trying to downgrade or cancel," said one Game Pass user. "For those of us that don’t give a f**k about Fortnite or Ubisoft classics, we should just be able to pay $20-$25 instead and not have access to those add-ons," argued another who said they were soon dropping down to one of the more affordable tiers.

A bold move — and a big mistake

The long-term impact these changes will have on Game Pass remains to be seen, but at least right now, it's clear Xbox fans are not happy. (Image credit: Windows Central | Jez Corden | Microsoft)

With Microsoft continuing to adopt an increasingly multiplatform strategy for its Xbox business, and with the Xbox Ally and Xbox Ally X handhelds scheduled for an imminent release, much of this Game Pass overhaul makes sense; bringing more tiers of the service to platforms like PC and Xbox Cloud Gaming gives folks using PCs, gaming handhelds, and other devices more options.

More options are always good, especially when you're trying to draw players that may not have a traditional Xbox console into the Xbox ecosystem and get them to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass in the long term.

Naturally, though, more widespread access to Xbox Cloud Gaming means that the service will become more expensive to run — and by choosing to largely try recouping that cost by spiking Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's price, I think Microsoft has made a big mistake.

More widespread access to Xbox Cloud Gaming means that service will become more expensive to run — and by choosing to largely try recouping that cost by spiking Xbox Game Pass Ultimate's price, I think Microsoft has made a big mistake.

Unless you're a big Fortnite fan who will get serious use out of that Fortnite Crew membership or an avid enjoyer of Ubisoft titles, there's been very little value added to Ultimate in exchange for that $10 cost increase. That is ultimately one of the biggest reasons why Game Pass members are so frustrated — though honestly, even with added benefits more widely applicable to all players, I still think there'd be strong blowback.

At the end of the day, $30 for a monthly subscription will be a tall order, no matter what it gives, and it flies in the face of what made Game Pass "the best deal in gaming" in the first place: its bang-for-your-buck value.

I believe Microsoft would have been far better off if it slightly increased prices across the board instead of sharply increasing Ultimate's, because now, the program's best feature — day one game releases — is locked behind a $30/month paywall many won't be willing to pay. In the end, though, only time will tell how large an impact this has on the Game Pass business.

Personally? I'll be switching over to the $16.49 PC Game Pass. With it, you get almost all the benefits of Ultimate sans Fortnite Crew (I couldn't care less), $100 of earnable Xbox rewards credit (you get a max of $50 instead), and multiplatform access for half the price. And while it's limited to PC only, that's not a problem for me, as I prefer playing games on my PC anyway.


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Brendan Lowry
Contributor, Gaming

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. He's been writing for Team WC since the summer of 2017, and you'll find him doing news, editorials, reviews, and general coverage on everything gaming, Xbox, and Windows PC. His favorite game of all time is probably NieR: Automata, though Elden Ring, Fallout: New Vegas, and Team Fortress 2 are in the running, too. When he's not writing or gaming, there's a good chance he's either watching an interesting new movie or TV show or actually going outside for once. Follow him on X (Twitter).

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