Xbox makes surprise cancellation days before Starfield's launch

Well, this is certainly less than ideal. If you were hoping to take advantage of Xbox Game Pass’s £1/$1 dollar deal in order to play Starfield, I’m afraid you’re out of luck. Microsoft has killed off the deal yet again, sigh.

We’re inching ever closer to the release of Starfield - and the hype is palpable. It’s no surprise though that people are excited to dive into Bethesda’s first new IP in 25 years. Starfield is set to boast over 1,000 planets and 100 star systems, so I’m imagining that it’ll keep us busy for some time to come. In recent weeks, devs have been teasing the various factions you can join and companions you can befriend. Of course, you can try and turn those friendships into romances - and fans are already discussing which characters they’ve got their eyes on. There’s going to be so much to keep us busy, but if you were planning on taking advantage of a classic Xbox Game Pass offer in order to dive into the day one release. You may need to come up with a new plan.

Take a look at Starfield’s epic new cinematic trailer below.

If you’ve pre-ordered any of Starfield’s various physical or digital editions, you’re all set - and I’m imagining you may be diving into early access in a few days time. Starfield is also launching as an Xbox Game Pass day one release though. If you’re a long term subscriber of Game Pass, you too have nothing to worry about, but if you were hoping to rejoin the subscription service to play Starfield, taking advantage of the £1/$1 starter offer, I have bad news for you. After previously bringing the offer back, Microsoft has scrapped it once again.

The deal was first scrapped by Microsoft earlier this year. It would previously grant users a whole month of Game Pass for just £1/$1. A new iteration was then introduced earlier this month which permitted users a 14 day trial for the same price. It was undeniably a major downgrade, but not quite as big of a downgrade as what we’ve got now. As reported by GamesRadar, Microsoft has now pulled the offer altogether - and it doesn’t feel like a coincidence that they’ve done so days before Starfield’s release.

Earlier this year, it was announced that Xbox Game Pass was receiving a price hike which came into effect last month. In the UK, Ultimate increased from £10.99 to £12.99, while the standard Console tier went up from £7.99 to £8.99. Microsoft is really banking on Starfield making some cash - and you can’t blame them. It looks fantastic. Still, it’s bad news for our pockets.