Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Should Be An Easy Choice, But Microsoft Is Making Me Reconsider My Sub

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Microsoft recently increased the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $20 to $30 per month. Many gamers online are jokingly referring to the new annual cost as equivalent to the original price of an Xbox 360.

It’s easy to make fun of the situation, but I’ve been seriously considering whether Game Pass is still worth the new price. Microsoft has added some perks and changed things up, but it’s unclear if these changes actually improve the service or just make it more complicated. Let’s take a closer look at what’s going on.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate lets you play new games from Microsoft and many other developers the moment they come out. It also includes subscriptions to EA Play, Ubisoft Classics, and soon, Fortnite Crew. If you were to buy these separately, they’d cost around $264 a year ($80 for Ubisoft Classics, $40 for EA Play, and $144 for Fortnite Crew). This added value makes the $360 annual Game Pass subscription more appealing – especially if you plan to use all the included services.

Let’s break down the Ubisoft subscriptions included with Ultimate. Ubisoft offers Ubisoft Classics in two tiers: a standard version for PC only at $7.99 per month, and a Premium version for both PC and Xbox at $17.99 per month. Xbox says its version of the subscription adds $7.99 in value per platform, so playing on both PC and Xbox gives you the most benefit. However, the Ubisoft Classics version available through Game Pass gives you access to a changing selection of standard game editions, while the full Ubisoft Premium subscription offers over 100 games, often in their Premium editions. You do get access on both PC and Xbox with Game Pass, but to a smaller library and with standard editions instead of premium ones. Microsoft claims it’s worth $15.98 per month, but considering all the limitations, the stated value of $7.99 per platform feels misleading.

EA Play is a simpler service. For $5.99 a month, it lets you try new EA games for up to 10 hours and play a library of popular EA titles as much as you want. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate appears to include the same benefits.

Both programs offer discounts on games from Ubisoft and EA when purchased separately, but it’s unclear if Game Pass subscribers will receive those discounts. It’s unlikely, though, as Xbox recently removed game and DLC discounts that were previously part of the Game Pass subscription with the price increase.

The Fortnite Crew subscription is a year-long package that includes all battle passes, 1,000 V-Bucks each month (totaling 12,000 a year), and 12 exclusive outfits. However, even for dedicated players, it doesn’t offer great value. The problem is that many of the rewards aren’t very appealing – the battle passes and Crew packs are filled with items you likely won’t use just to make the offerings seem more substantial. Most of the included content isn’t the exciting, popular collaborations like Scooby-Doo or Power Rangers; instead, it’s made up of generic characters and music.

To truly get the most out of a Fortnite Crew subscription, you’d need to regularly use the exclusive outfits, listen to the Jam Tracks, and play the LEGO Fortnite modes, as well as complete each Battle Pass. Basically, the $144 annual cost gets you around $100 in V-Bucks, some cosmetic skins you might not need, LEGO pieces you may not use, and music tracks that aren’t necessarily for everyone.

Many dedicated Fortnite players, including me, purchase the Crew Pass each season to finish the Battle Pass and get extra V-Bucks. However, because it’s a recurring subscription, you really have to play Fortnite a lot to make the Crew Pass worth the cost by itself.

If you only consider games made by Microsoft, Game Pass offers a lot for your money. This year alone has seen releases like Avowed, Oblivion, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Gears of War Reloaded, with more on the way, including Ninja Gaiden 4, Call of Duty Black Ops 7, The Outer Worlds 2, and Keeper. Plus, many games from other developers are available on Game Pass the day they launch, such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong. However, whether it’s *actually* a good deal depends on how many of these games you’ll actually play.

I recently saw this interesting study by Circana, and it really made me think about the Game Pass price increase. It found that most of us gamers in the US only buy a couple of new games each year. Now, I know stats can be complicated, but it got me wondering: if most people are only spending around $140 a year on games, is paying $360 for Game Pass *really* worth it? It’s a lot of money just to try out a few games, you know?

We shouldn’t necessarily expect a huge number of game releases from Microsoft next year or the year after that. While it’s possible, we’re really discussing how much value *could* become available.

To really get your money’s worth with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you’d pretty much need to stop using other gaming services, and most gamers aren’t doing that. I personally enjoy games made by Microsoft, and I expect to have played five of them this year, along with many other games available through Game Pass. I also play Fortnite constantly, and I usually prefer playing on my Xbox instead of my PlayStation. I’m one of the few people who might actually be able to justify the cost, but even I think twice about it.

Honestly, Game Pass used to feel like such an amazing deal. I only needed to play a couple of games each month to feel like I was getting my money’s worth – everything else was just a bonus! But with the price going up, it’s getting harder to justify. It feels like I’m convincing *myself* it’s still worth it, hoping the service delivers. And even if the price wasn’t an issue, the fact that games are constantly being added and removed makes it feel a little unstable, you know?

Game Pass used to be the absolute best value for console gamers. Now, it’s still a good deal, but only if it fits your particular gaming habits.

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2025-10-18 01:40