The Future of Day One Issues, New Pricing and Subscription Options

Game Pass for consoles and PC is more expensive today than it was yesterday, and depending on your situation, it may be will include fewer video games. Without notice and effective immediately, Microsoft has rethought the pricing and what’s on offer on its video game Netflix equivalent. The changes aren’t good for anyone, but the ones that will hurt the most are those who didn’t sign up yesterday and were planning to make the move in the coming months. Especially with an eye on Call of Duty. Let’s break it down.

Three Big Changes Coming to Game Pass

Microsoft simultaneously announced and implemented changes to Game Pass, and to start with, it disabled the ability to subscribe to the original console plan in order to replace it with the new one. No hot towels. The new Game Pass Standard is coming in the coming months, but from July 10, 2024 Two very concrete measures have already been adopted, and a third will soon be presented and implemented.

• To begin with, everyone new subscribers Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Xbox Game Pass Core, and PC Game Pass Are Coming Together price increase which varies depending on your plan. To give you an exact figure, in the case of Game Pass Ultimate we are talking about €17.99 per month.
• On the other hand, it is no longer possible to subscribe to Game Pass for console (also known as the traditional Xbox Game Pass). However, those who were already active members before the plan change and who have automatic payment renewal enabled will not be affected by any changes.
• Finally, the gap left by Game Pass for consoles will be filled by a new Game Pass standard that will be available in the coming months, the biggest difference from what already existed is that it now There will be no first day of launch. They will be exclusive to Game Pass Ultimate.

What does it mean? On PC, it all comes down to a price increase. Two more euros, to be precise, in the case of Spain. On consoles, things are more complicated, so if you had an active Game Pass subscription, you will be subject to the same conditions until you cancel the renewal. However, new players will find a much less generous outlook than the one on July 9.

So, in the absence of more details about the next Game Pass standard, the breakdown of plans and what each offers new players remains as follows.

The new Game Pass price has a side effect: For the rest of the year and beyond, Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard have planned big bombs that, as is tradition, will arrive at the service’s launch. These releases are now reserved for current subscribers and those who join new ones, starting with the Ultimate Plan.

In any case, without wishing to justify these changes, it can be said that this measure is supported from another point of view: console sales represent a very specific value for Microsoft, but its current vision involves the introduction of Xbox and Game Pass (via Xbox Cloud Gaming) on ​​all possible devices, including mobile phones, web browsers, SmartTVs and, not coincidentally, compatibility with Amazon Fire Sticks. The one, by the way, He arrived a few hours before the price change.

We’re not going to lose perspective, though: The tricky part here with the transition from Game Pass for consoles to Game Pass Standard isn’t what’s being offered or what won’t be offered anymore, but what won’t be offered come launch.

Radical decision: Day 1 releases will now be available only on Game Pass Ultimate.

Is the best plan worth it? Besides being able to play in the cloud and having all the features, we are talking about releases of the caliber of Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, the next Call of Duty or, looking forward to 2025, Doom Dark Ages or the next Elder Scrolls. Besides, of course, the games that come out every month: those will arrive in the coming weeks. Flintlock or Frostpunk 2 and this summer we will see STALKER 2: Heart of Chernobyl.

What is the price ratio? Microsoft has created a huge table with all the countries, but we’ve included seven as a sample in VidaExtra so you can quickly get an idea of ​​how much each of the currently available services will cost.

Finally, arrival Standard Game Pass This leaves us with a curious panorama. We know that the monthly price will be $ 14.99 (two dollars less than Game Pass Ultimate until July 9), but the prices in each country are unknown and all its benefits are not yet specified. Offering, in essence, a service that is not left in the middle of nowhere, given that today we have 422 ready-made games, but it is not as attractive as the highest subscription, and ultimately not as economical as Game Pass Core. which, in fact, and without ignoring the catalog of games, is intended for those who want to play only online.

Perhaps the idea is to attract new players directly to the Ultimate subscription, or perhaps after crunching the numbers and seeing what happens next, pricing will have to be re-evaluated. It is possible that it is both things at the same time. Either way, if you signed up a few weeks ago to take advantage of the service over the holidays, congratulations: you have the best of both worlds.

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