Summary
Even moreXbox Game Passtier changes may be on the horizon, including a cloud-only plan, according to a new report from a known Microsoft insider. The purported tweaks are understood to be part of an effort to helpXbox Game Passreach new audiences worldwide.
Microsoft Possibly Working on Cloud-Only Xbox Game Pass Tier
But that may not be the last of Xbox Game Pass changes to materialize in the foreseeable future, with Windows Central’s Jez Cordenreportingthat Microsoft is already working on some other novelties. One of them is supposedly a cloud-only tier that’s meant to bemore affordable than Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which is currently priced at $19.99 per month. Corden did not offer a timeline for when this new tier of the service might see the light of day.
Xbox Game Pass Family Plan Might Be Coming Back
The second change mentioned in the report concerns theXbox Game Pass Friends and Family plan, which Corden says might be coming back, citing “very tentative rumors.” The multi-account plan was a short-lived experiment that was only offered between September 2022 and August 2023. It was initially made available in Ireland and Colombia before making its way to six more countries in early 2023. It allowed up to five people to enjoy all the benefits of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for roughly $25 a month, which was cheaper than paying for two separate Ultimate memberships at the time.
While the price hikes and tier revamp announced in July 2024 were largely geared toward optimizing Xbox Game Pass profit margins, these newly rumored changes seem to have an entirely different goal in mind; a cloud-only tier and a five-account plan would both ostensibly help the service reach new audiences, like price-conscious consumers not interested in buying an Xbox console or finding $20 to be too much for a single monthly subscription. Making the service more accessible could help Microsoft offset some of the effects ofXbox Game Pass’s declining growth.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft’s flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
