Xbox Controversial Price Hike Won't Impact Everyone, You May Be Safe

Microsoft has delayed the rollout of its recent Xbox Game Pass price hike in one major territory.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was recently announced to be increasing in price by a whopping 50%.

Microsoft unveiled that the subscription service will now be split into Essential, Premium and Ultimate.

It’s only the Ultimate tier, alongside the pre-existing PC tier, that’ll permit users access to day one launches.

As I mentioned, it’ll soon rise by 50% though, with prices in the USA increasing from $19.99 to $29.99.

Here in the UK, Ultimate will soon cost £22.99 instead of £10.99.

The price of the PC tier has also risen from £12 to $16.49.

Originally, it was announced that this change would roll out from 4 November - and that does seem to be the case in the US and many other locations.

However, within Europe, many Xbox users have been informed of a delay to the hike.

As reported by TweakTown, an email was sent to Europe-based subscribers that reads as follows: “At this time, these increases will only affect new purchases and will not affect your current subscription for the market in which you reside, as long as you are on an auto-recurring plan. Should you choose to cancel your plan and repurchase, you will be charged at the new current rate."

And since this email has surfaced, these details have been officially corroborated by Microsoft in a statement to The Verge.

Xbox representative Kari Perez said, “Our recent Game Pass update remains unchanged. Current subscribers in certain countries will continue renewing at their existing price for now, in line with local requirements. We'll provide advance notice before price adjustments take effect in these countries.”

It’s believed that EU legislation may have blocked Microsoft from increasing the cost of the Ultimate tier by so much in one immediate chunk.

The key phrase here from Xbox’s statement is “for now”, as European gamers will very likely have to pay that increased figure before long.

I’m sure Microsoft is strategising as we speak, attempting to find a way around anything potentially blocking the price hike; they could, for example, incrementally increase the price in several instalments.

What will you end up getting for this increased price tag?

Well, Microsoft has added a free Fortnite Crew subscription and access to Ubisoft+ Classics.

In monetary terms, those two combined services are worth more than that which the Ultimate tier has risen by.

That doesn’t necessarily make it a good deal though, as plenty of people just don’t play Fortnite, plus you can pick up the classic Ubisoft games you do want to check out pretty cheaply in a way that you can keep them forever.

We can’t put a stop to this price hike, so if you are based in Europe, enjoy the delay while it lasts.