Microsoft Significantly Raises Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Prices, But Adds More Perks

Microsoft has announced a significant price hike for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, effective October 1, 2025, for new subscribers (and November 4 for existing subscribers). In the US, the price for Ultimate jumps from $19.99 to $29.99 per month—a 50% increase. In the UK, it rises from £14.99 to £22.99, up by 53.33%.

There are now three subscription tiers: Essential, Premium, and Ultimate. Core subscribers will automatically transition to Essential ($9.99/month), Standard becomes Premium ($14.99/month), and Ultimate remains Ultimate at the new price of $29.99/month. PC Game Pass is also getting more expensive, increasing from $11.99 to $16.49 per month in the US and from £9.99 to £13.49 in the UK.

Microsoft justifies the price increase by pointing to expanded features and content libraries. Ultimate now includes over 400 games, more than 75 day-one releases per year, and subscriptions to Fortnite Crew, EA Play, and Ubisoft+ Classics. Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming quality has been improved to 1440p, wait times have been reduced, and new in-game perks—including cosmetics and items for popular games—have been added. Ultimate subscribers can also earn up to $100 a year (up to 100,000 points) through Rewards with Xbox, redeemable for bonuses, discounts, and in-game items.

Premium offers access to over 200 games on console, PC, and cloud, including new Xbox-published titles within a year of release (except Call of Duty), unlimited cloud gaming, in-game perks, and the ability to earn up to $50 a year through Rewards.

Essential gives access to over 50 games on console and PC—including Hades, Stardew Valley, and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide—online multiplayer, unlimited cloud gaming, in-game perks, and Rewards with the potential to earn up to $25 a year.

Microsoft has also added more than 45 new games to Game Pass, including big titles like Hogwarts Legacy. The company notes that creator participation and player engagement are at record highs, and Game Pass has set a new annual revenue record, approaching $5 billion.

The price increases are attributed to the expanded game catalog, new partner perks (Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, EA Play), and improvements to cloud gaming.

You can find the full list of games available for each tier on the official website.

It’s also worth noting that, starting October 3, Xbox Series X and Series S consoles will see another price hike—from $599.99 to $649.99 for Series X and from $379.99 to $399.99 for Series S. Sony has also raised prices for the PS5 and PS5 Pro in the US, increasing each console’s price by $50.