Game Pass Price Hike Continues Trend of Confusing Messaging From Xbox

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Avinash Jaisrani

At HI Digital I test and write about different hardware configurations to show other PC users what they can expect from their build. My end goal is to educate the masses to make the right decision when they are looking for new PC parts to buy

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Xbox has very recently increased the price of its Game Pass subscription. However, this price hike has not been explained particularly well. In fact, it’s just one more example of Microsoft’s poor and often downright confusing messaging when it comes to Xbox.

Game Pass used to be quite easy for consumers to understand. While it’s still no rocket science, people without much knowledge of the gaming industry could easily get lost between the four to five different tiers and their very specific functions.

All this latest change does is highlight Xbox’s inability to effectively communicate with the fans.

Why it matters: The latest announcements have left many fans confused and searching for answers. Microsoft has effectively left the community to come up with more concise and clear explanations of the service.

Day One With Game Pass?

Microsoft has removed day-one games from every console tier except Game Pass Ultimate. The official FAQ states that Game Pass Standard does not include day-one games.

However, the gaming giant failed to clarify whether this includes third and first-party releases. The lack of clarification might mean this rule is applied across the board, but I’ve seen many people confused about this point.

Moreover, Xbox is said to be planning releases for its biggest titles in 6-12 months on this tier of the service. If this is already decided, why was the gap not communicated by Microsoft itself?

Recent reports state that some titles could take even longer, which means that Microsoft itself is unsure. Regarding day-one releases, ‘Play it day one with Game Pass’ was Microsoft’s big slogan for first and third-party releases at every showcase and event.

Now that this is true only for Game Pass PC and Ultimate, will Microsoft change the slogan to reflect the new tiers? I sure hope so.

Game Pass Core & Standard

With Game Pass for consoles now out of the picture, Game Pass Core and Standard are left as the two cheapest options of the service on Xbox Series S|X. However, what’s interesting is how similar these two subscriptions are.

Game Pass Standard is just a more souped-up version of Game Pass Core, with the lack of day-one titles blurring the lines between both. Sure, you have a much bigger library of games on the former, but their core purpose is the same.

At a difference of just $5/month, Game Pass Core looks like a much worse deal. This was not the case before since this tier’s selling point, access to online gameplay, was unique to it.

As it stands, Game Pass Core seems to exist just to upsell customers to Game Pass Standard. All in all, Microsoft’s confusing tiers have led to the community stepping up and doing a better job of offering an explanation.

Twitter users like Klobrille have created visuals that clearly show these differences, making them easier for the average consumer to understand. I’m just wondering why Xbox couldn’t come up with something similar itself.

Confusing Messaging In The Past

As said earlier, Microsoft has a habit of failing to communicate with its fans. Recall the third-party games situation and how Phil Spencer confirmed to fans that most games would not go on other platforms.

Just a few months later, Doom: The Dark Ages was announced for the PS5. Phil Spencer then stated that fans should expect more third-party releases after this announcement, and all of this happened over the course of a few months. New rumors suggest that Halo could also be heading to PS5 now.

Time and again, the gaming giant has failed to communicate with its fans effectively. Quite conveniently, Microsoft falls back on the case-by-case basis argument, implying that plans are never set in stone.

In my opinion, this is a major problem on the gaming giant’s part, and something that needs to be fixed immediately.

Avinash Jaisrani

[How-To Guides Expert]

Laiba, our tech guru at HI Digital, simplifies and crafts How-To Guides with a Google IT Support Certificate. Beyond tech, she captures the city’s aesthetics through her lens. Join her journey where tech meets creativity!

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