Xbox Game Pass, the Magnum Opus of Xbox Game Studios Chief Phil Spencer, should once attract players in the safe port of the monthly subscription services as a lighthouse of gaming innovations-which also succeeded. This once so pregnant idea resulted in delicious fruits of success for the home of Microsoft. As of July 2025, around 37 million people use this service. Since October 1, instead of the previous 17.99 euros, the Ultimate package has now been paid 26.99 euros-an increase of around 50 percent.
If you assume 37 million subscribers and assumes purely hypothetically that everyone uses the Game Pass Ultimate, the monthly income would be around 998.63 million euros-without discounts, regional price differences or cheaper subscription variants. A high sum. Gamer pays as much for the game pass every year as four full price titles would cost. And yes, of course the price increase also brings a few new advantages, such as Ubisoft +. Nevertheless, you ask yourself the question: Does that still pay off?
A large purchase incentive for the Ultimate Pass is of course the “Day One” availability of the games. You can use them directly from the first day. But how many “big” exclusive titles from Microsoft appear a year that you would actually get? How many of them are only small fish that you throw back into the pond after a short time?
No question, hardcore fans will continue to use this service. But whether the average fan, which only finds 2-3 hours a week, will continue to be aside just under 30 euros a month. Because, he buys the game, he has it (theoretically) forever. If he gets it out of the game pass, it can be removed from that. So what is more sensible? Buy or have temporary?
Or is the price increase of a strategy of the tech giant to encourage gamers more to buy again? If the game is acquired, Microsoft may get a larger piece of the cake than from the subscription service. Or is it the combination of people who pay 26.99 per month and the others who put 70-80 euros once on the table? What it is, Microsoft thought something. So only the question of “what” remains open.
