Microsoft closes loophole that let you save big on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

What you need to know

• You can no longer redeem one year of EA Play for four months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
• Redeeming a year of EA Play now only gets you two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
• The previous option was an especially good deal as four months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs more than a year of EA Play.

Microsoft closed a loophole that let you get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a lower price than normal. Until recently, you could redeem one year of EA Play for four months of Xbox Game Pass. A year of EA Play usually costs $30, so getting four months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which costs $60, was a good deal.

Now, as highlighted by Twisted Voxel, redeeming one year of EA Play only gets you two months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Those are essentially identical in value, so it makes sense that Microsoft made the switch, but it's unfortunate for people trying to save money.

An Xbox support page now reads:

There are still some other ways to get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for less than its usual price. If you're a new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, a current promotion lowers the cost of the first three months of the service to $1.