Xbox Game Pass Is Officially More Expensive (But It's Also Still Discounted)

Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate are officially now more expensive. In the United States, Game Pass has increased by $1 per month to $11, while Game Pass Ultimate jumps $2 to $17. PC Game Pass, meanwhile, remains at its existing rate of $10 per month. Despite all this, it doesn't mean your options have completely dried up for getting Xbox Game Pass or Game Pass Ultimate at a discount.

Right now, you can grab a three-month subscription for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for just $41.66. In the past, this particular subscription would cost you $45, and with the price increase now in place, paying the full price per month for three months would be $51. You can also snag one-month subscriptions for $13.82 at Amazon.

These codes, which are added to your Amazon digital locker immediately, have no expiration date and you can stack them by up to 36 months.

As noted above, Xbox boss Phil Spencer suggested price increases could be coming after last year's holidays, and those were indeed announced in June. Xbox Series X's price has been increased in certain markets (the US was not among them), while Game Pass rates were hiked up. Xbox Series S was not affected.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers the best value when it comes to Xbox subscriptions. In addition to gaining access to the Game Pass library on Xbox and PC, you'll also get an EA Play membership with more games and discounts, all of the perks of Xbox Live Gold (free games and online multiplayer), and exclusive discounts. Plus, Game Pass Ultimate is the only way to get access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, which lets you stream Game Pass games on your smartphone and other devices.

The current Xbox Game Pass library is massive and includes all of Microsoft's first-party games alongside a rotating selection of third-party offerings. Recent additions to the library include Need for Speed Unbound, Arcade Paradise, and much more, and come September, the highly anticipated space exploration game Starfield will arrive on the service. Right now, you can dive into Forza Horizon 5, Gears 5, several Age of Empires games, Hi-Fi Rush, Halo Infinite, and hundreds more games. New Game Pass games for July have also now been revealed, with Grand Theft Auto V already having been re-added to the library.