Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is about to become far less wallet-friendly, with its Ultimate tier jumping from $20 to $30 per month—a steep 50% increase that’s already prompting mass cancellations. The backlash was immediate and intense enough to overwhelm Microsoft’s account management system, with many users reporting that they were unable to cancel their subscriptions due to repeated loading errors on the My Access website.
Posts on Reddit quickly circulated screenshots of the “We couldn’t load your subscriptions” message, fueling speculation that Microsoft was intentionally blocking cancellations. However, given the timing, it’s far more likely that the servers were simply flooded by subscribers rushing to drop the service. It’s an understandable reaction: Game Pass has built its reputation on affordability and convenience, and a sudden $10 monthly jump undermines the very appeal that helped it grow to tens of millions of users worldwide.
To its credit, Microsoft insists the higher price comes with tangible upgrades. The Ultimate tier will now include access to the Fortnite Crew subscription and a broader collection of Ubisoft titles, with smaller enhancements coming to lower-priced plans as well. These additions tie into the company’s larger effort to expand its cloud streaming and cross-device gaming ecosystem, branding everything under the unified “This is an Xbox” initiative.
However, the optics of this move aren’t great. Game Pass is supposed to be the crown jewel of Microsoft’s gaming strategy, especially as it seeks to strengthen its position on devices like the Asus ROG Ally and upcoming Windows 11 handheld interfaces. Yet, at a time when Xbox hardware already faces declining sales, dramatically increasing subscription prices could easily backfire—potentially driving away the very audience that made Game Pass a success story in the first place.