The Value Proposition: Reassessing Xbox Game Pass After the Price Increase
The creeping cost of subscriptions is easily overlooked. A £60 phone contract, coupled with a £40 monthly artisanal cake delivery, doesn’t seem like much - but in the landscape of entertainment subscriptions, it represents a notable outlay.
considering the broader market, Netflix Premium, the most expensive tier available from any streaming TV/Film service, costs £18.99 a month. Game pass Ultimate is pricier. PlayStation Plus Premium, the top-tier PlayStation subscription, is available for £13.49 monthly or £120 annually, making it less expensive than Game Pass ultimate. Determining true value, though, is subjective. What one person considers a worthwhile addition to a service, another might view as an needless charge for unwanted content.
Personally, the author finds value in the EA Play games included within Game Pass, having previously subscribed to EA Play separately. The Fortnite Crew perk, highly desired by their son, is also a significant benefit. Access to Xbox-published games on day one is a primary reason for preferring Game Pass over competing services, with the potential for improved streaming quality via Cloud Gaming still being evaluated.
The question becomes: is this enough to justify paying more than double the £11 cost of Game Pass Core, or the equivalent of a Burger King meal deal on top of Sony’s £13.49 Premium offering? Currently, Game Pass ultimate lists 838 games, while playstation Plus Premium (including classic titles) offers around 550. Though, quality arguably outweighs quantity.
Despite this analysis, the author avoids a definitive statement about their future with Game Pass. The key consideration is that the standard £22.99 monthly price isn’t necessarily what needs to be paid. Just recently, a year-long membership was secured for £135 through a well-known UK games retailer. While a price increase is anticipated, the author doubts they will ever pay the full monthly rate.
Ultimately, the author doesn’t foresee cancelling Game Pass and reverting to purchasing games outright. They already buy over ten games annually across Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and PC, but primarily on those platforms. game pass provides affordable access to a diverse range of games for the whole family, and offers convenience. The author, describing themselves as “quiet tight” with money, appreciates the simplicity of a fixed monthly cost – effectively capping their Xbox spending at £20, neatly accounted for.
-Tom O
The big question, then: After the Xbox game Pass price hike, is it time to cancel and start buying games again?
