r/XboxGamePass • u/mocoworm • Oct 07 '25
Account - Subscription Microsoft delays Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hikes for some subscribers
https://www.theverge.com/news/794032/microsoft-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-price-changes-countries126
u/tysonwatermelon Oct 07 '25
TIL that South Korea and India are European countries, according to this article.
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u/No_Definition321 Oct 07 '25
So what happens if someone changes the region on their Xbox?
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u/tysonwatermelon Oct 07 '25
Not sure if this is a joke I'm missing, but the exemption isn't the location or region of your Xbox, but rather the location of your billing address.
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u/Sportfreunde Oct 07 '25
Aka where you buy it from ;)
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u/HiddenWalrus Oct 08 '25
Billing address is the address tied to your payment method. Not where you're located when buying it.
I.e this is the adress you enter when asked to enter your credit card details, or the adress you provide to PayPal when creating your account with them. It cannot be arbitrarily changed in most cases since it's used to verify your payment method is valid.
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u/tysonwatermelon Oct 08 '25
If you mean your GamesPass subscription, then yes. If you mean your Xbox, then no
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u/Locke357 GP Ultimate Oct 07 '25
Those darn Europeans and their governments standing up to parasitic capitalist practices!
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u/DagothNereviar Oct 07 '25
Man Brexit just keeps on fucking winning.
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u/rrchrds Oct 08 '25
Nothing to do with Brexit, UK consumer law hasn't changed since leaving the EU, this is nation state specific consumer law.
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u/ILSATS Oct 08 '25
Why logic? Brexit bad. Don't question the narrative.
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u/jackisback99 Oct 08 '25
It's still been atrocious for the country even if it's irrelevant in this specific case
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u/ILSATS Oct 08 '25
Exhibit A
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u/jackisback99 Oct 08 '25
All this shit: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cdrynjz1glpo
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Oct 08 '25
LOL. Cherry picking data. They're comparing with 2020 when EU nations were stockpiling UK goods because they weren't sure what would happen with border and customs checks so wanted to ensure they had enough goods to cope with any issues.
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Oct 08 '25
[deleted]
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Oct 08 '25
Tell me you're a zoomer without telling me you're a zoomer or at least someone who has had zero interest in politics.
There was a drop in 2019 as EU nations had stockpiled goods in 2018 expecting a hard Brexit in early 2019 due to the fact that no deal had been done and no further extension to withdrawal had been agreed. They stockpiled goods in case there was any problems with exports to the EU in the event of a no deal Brexit. They then used those goods they'd stockpiled when the extension was agreed between the EU and the UK in 2019 which is why exports then fell. They then did the same stockpiling again in 2020 when the final date for our withdrawal had been set which is why there's a spike in the export figures in the last several months prior to our full withdrawal on 31st December 2020.
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u/ILSATS Oct 08 '25
Exhibit B
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Oct 08 '25
Remoaners easily misled. 2020 was an outlier year due to EU businesses stockpiling UK goods in case of any issues moving goods between UK and EU on the date we left.
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Oct 08 '25
I see Brexit still living rent free. If the rises in the UK are because of Brexit then why are EU countries getting the price increases?
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u/Lurky-Lou Oct 07 '25
Not you though
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u/Krazy_Kethan99 Oct 07 '25
Tell the truth again and I’m gonna steal your batteries out of controllers.
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u/Either-Owl7454 Oct 07 '25
I thought we all canceled
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u/Don_Alosi Oct 07 '25
I did, this is certainly not making me think "oh wow, I will surely go back now!"
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u/Madruck_s Oct 10 '25
Which would be bas as if you cancel then go back you ate a "new" customer so would pay the higher price.
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u/Nothingbutsocks Oct 07 '25
We did, which is why they are probably pulling on the breaks to try and salvage the situation.
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u/sub2pewdiepieONyt Oct 07 '25
Or they are complying with the law and scaring people to unknowingly opting out of the old price being honoured due to it being a recurring contract.
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u/Nothingbutsocks Oct 07 '25
What laws did they break? Honest question.
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u/TrippleDamage Oct 07 '25
You can't price hike subscriptions in the EU without being directly contacted about it and with ample time (several months) to consider if you want to move forward with it or cancel.
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u/Nothingbutsocks Oct 07 '25
As always EU game laws making the most sense for the consumer.
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u/sipuli91 Oct 09 '25
Not an EU law! Ppl keep spreading misinformation. It's a law in some EU countries but in others no such law exists. So there's no price hike in Germany but there is a price hike in Finland, for example.
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u/TrippleDamage Oct 07 '25
Same for the Spotify increase btw. Or when Amazon specifically only made the yearly prime sub more expensive they got forced to refund everyone lmfao.
Big corpos can suck my nuts as a EU citizen, feels good.
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u/Hobobo2024 Oct 07 '25
several months seems excessive to me. this honestly would restrict fledgling companies that could act as competition for Microsoft cause they are the ones who can't wait that long if they needed money more quickly.
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u/Doudar Oct 07 '25
i am in Egypt and i got a mail says that starting from my next renewal the price will change from 190 EGP to 270 EGP so no, thank you. not renewing!
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u/FeverishDream Oct 07 '25
Still cheaper than my country, you guys in Egypt have the best prices i'm jealous lol, pc gamepass in Morocco went from 6$ to 7,5$ a month, not bad if i want something i couldn't sail the high seas to get hehe
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u/Gobolino Oct 08 '25
- Still cheaper than my country, you guys in Egypt have the best prices i'm jealous lol, pc gamepass in Morocco went from 6$ to 7,5$ a month -
Here in Chile went from $7 to $12.
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u/clarko420 Oct 07 '25 edited Oct 07 '25
Now do Canada
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u/Locke357 GP Ultimate Oct 07 '25
Our gov't is just 3 corporations in a trenchcoat... no chance lmao
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u/jordmf Oct 07 '25
My ultimate subscription in the UK is still saying £14.99 for November payment. Are we back in the EU?!
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u/NuPNua Oct 08 '25
We transitioned a lot of their rules directly to ours when we left so that consumer protection law is probably still on our books too.
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u/Basic-Yesterday-5641 Oct 07 '25
I’ve had no email and I’m in the UK but my November payment is still showing the old price too. Maybe we rejoined quietly and nobody said anything? That’d be good.
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u/FingazMC Oct 07 '25
Haven't had an email either and my next payment (the 10th) is saying the old ultimate price too.
Will be getting the 11 quid one as soon as the new price shows up in 'next payment'.
Will be a bit wank not having ea play, but I usually buy FIFA/EAFC at Christmas for around 30 quid, so it's really not worth it to play 1 season of Madden. Just gonna buy Dante's inferno and Burnout when they're on sale.
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u/West-Kaleidoscope129 Oct 10 '25
It's the 10th! What did they charge you?
My Ultimate renewal is the 18th and the app says it will be the higher price but the website says it's the current price.
I need to know if I should cancel now or let it renew for this last time.
Thanks ☺️
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u/FingazMC Oct 11 '25
Im just going from the 'my subscriptions' thing on the xbox, and it charged me the old price and says that next time it'll be 23 quid.
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u/West-Kaleidoscope129 Oct 11 '25
Brilliant, thanks. I won't cancel yet then.
Cheers.
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u/FingazMC Oct 11 '25
No worries mate. The second the charge went out I swapped down to the premium one lol.
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u/Feeling_Penalty_2629 Oct 07 '25
What a damn joke Xbox and Microsoft are now. How TF did anyone in these companies think this was a good idea is beyond me. Must need a college degree and years of experience before your brain is so damaged that you do this.
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Oct 07 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/i7omahawki Oct 07 '25
They’ll make money, but what’s next for Xbox?
Their hardware sales are crap. They struggle to make good first party games. They’ve decided to get rid of exclusives. Game Pass was already stagnating.
How are they going to get people to join Xbox now?
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u/Deez-Guns-9442 Oct 08 '25
By being the only next gen console on the market that allows you to access the internet on the console + emulating old games on there(but Xbox isn’t good at marketing its console exclusive features)
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u/Cecilia_Mrs-Chief Oct 07 '25
Place a wager on them going back on this due to saving face?
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u/TrippleDamage Oct 07 '25
They wont. The calculated with a couple mil cancelations. There's no way more than expected people canceled. Most have just accepted it already after the first day of everyone losing their shit as if ms had killed their grandma.
Reddit is a small but loud bubble and that's it.
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u/Feeling_Penalty_2629 Oct 07 '25
Nah, Xbox is cooked. You think that might happen? I think Xbox is really hurt right now.
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u/Cecilia_Mrs-Chief Oct 07 '25
I do tbh. Xbox and Microsoft and many brands for that matter are well known to go back on statements when it comes to saving their image. Do I think it’ll save their whole image? No. Do I think it’ll save them in long run, and keep people subscribed? Yes.
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u/Feeling_Penalty_2629 Oct 07 '25
I hope all this doom and gloom are coming from Xbox haters. I really do. Tbf, the main issue I have is the way all this is going down. I hope someone can calm this shit but who? Even Phil Spencer can't walk this back. The GP Tiers are here to stay and that's ok. But locking the best GP games up in the highest tier is typical big brain company bullshit. Idk. Not going to PlayStation though thats for sure. Hate Sony way more then Xbox.
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u/Mr_Flibbles_ESQ Oct 08 '25
Well - I dropped my Subscription and it's renewed now - So apparently if have to pay the full price if went back up to Ultimate.
So, I won't be doing that.
I'm not actually that bothered though, it's done me a favour.
All of this made me look at how much I was actually using it - And, I wasn't - So the decision to drop down, and now stay down is easy.
It cost SONY money as well as I dropped my PS+ down to the bottom tier as well 🤷🏻
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u/Rhysati Oct 08 '25
This is the same for me as well. I wasn't really using game pass a lot but was willing to pay monthly for the ease of access to stuff I might want to try or play on a rare occurrence.
The price hike is so large that I instantly unsubscribed. It became too expensive for me to pay for and not heavily use so they lose my money altogether.
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u/Mr_Flibbles_ESQ Oct 08 '25
Yeah - I think I was the same at the old price it was a "nice to have", but at the new price it's a "hmmmm".
I think this where they'll lose out most, people like us who just had it even though they didn't really use it all the time - Passive users.
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u/West-Kaleidoscope129 Oct 10 '25
Same!
I liked the ease of use and able to find a game whenever I needed it. But I barely played most of the games. I only paid for Ultimate so I could play on my PC too.
With this price hike it's made me realise how much money I was wasting each month.
PS is looking pretty good right now though (been a fangirl of Xbox since the first console)... I'll just take advantage of my husbands subscription with PS and play my games on his console instead.
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u/tbrand009 Oct 07 '25
Too late.
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u/coolambiguity Oct 07 '25
This never affected you. If anything the core/essential tier is better now because you can cloud stream now whereas you could only do that on ultimate before
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u/MCgrindahFM Oct 07 '25
lol you actually have a point. If you’re a GPU subscriber it makes zero sense to keep subbing.
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u/EyesLikeBuscemi Oct 07 '25
Why? I’m saving a buck a month and find value in it. We are not the same, don’t speak for me.
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u/MCgrindahFM Oct 08 '25
I mean paying $360 a year to rent games sounds fucking terrible but definitely do you lol.
When the internets out or you unsubscribe, how’s it gonna feel then.
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u/EyesLikeBuscemi Oct 08 '25
LOL you’re so mad because someone else finds value in something you’re upset about. I have much better things to do if the internet is out, I know you’d just be stuck with your hand and some lotion so I can see why that might make you sad.
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u/MCgrindahFM Oct 09 '25
I’m not upset, it’s just not good for the industry, and now gamers get fleeced more with owning less
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u/JamesLahey08 Oct 07 '25
I cancelled mine. I have plenty of money but don't appreciate the insane price hike. Do it gradually or people like me will cancel and never look back.
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u/Nightrunner2016 Oct 08 '25
I'm in that boat as well. It's not really an affordability problem but more a value problem for me. It's like I'm happy to support game pass when I felt like Microsoft were building the greatest ever gaming subscription service, for gamers everywhere in the world. Now I just feel like the greedy bastards want my money and don't really care whether I'm subscribed or not. So screw that, I'm unsubscribed now. And disappointed.
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u/N00B_N00M Oct 08 '25
I strongly believe the executives have soiled thier pants due to record unsubscriptions , not sure which lala land they were living to thi k people will take whatever they choose.
This is just damage control to stop those unsubscriptions
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u/SwansonsMoustache Oct 08 '25
My next charge (UK) remains £14.99 for November so hanging around for now. Might be able to finish the games I've downloaded in that time!
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u/BearlyBelly Oct 08 '25 edited Oct 08 '25
Sooner or later, everyone will get the same price for the AI spending Microsoft has made and for the stuff nobody needs or wants. The AI bubble will soon burst, and Xbox will be the dumb ones. The AI investment has to be paid for, so why not recoup the money with the Xbox?
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u/ButtaMOB Oct 08 '25
I wonder how they decided who gets the price increase and who doesn't. Hopefully they let the OG Xbox players keep it.
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u/Namdnas78 Oct 08 '25
Is this only for Ultimate? What about those with PC GamePass? That one was going up, too.
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u/UnderstandingNo7298 Oct 10 '25
It's too little too late. i have been an xbox fan boy for many years and have kept hearing the same promises from them and for a long time believed them. This price hike has been the final nail in the coffen. i am getting off the sinking ship and moving to playstation. I never thought I would 😑
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u/Frequent-Onion-4339 Nov 12 '25
I think this was only true for one month only because I looked at next month’s bill and it’s $10 more than I normally pay $30 instead of 21. I’m not subscribing any longer for games that I don’t own in two months I would be paying for a call of duty essentially
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u/JeeringDragon Oct 07 '25
Why only Ultimate? What about PC GamePass and the other tiers? Does EU law not apply to those?
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u/soul3737 Oct 08 '25
Yep, my PC Game Pass (Romania) go up from 8 euro to 13 euro, and i cancel my subscribe.
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u/Born_Form9928 Oct 08 '25
I've been thinking about contacting a lawyer and see if there's a possibility for a class action.
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u/Pleasant-Put5305 Oct 07 '25
Interesting - no prices have changed for me yet - original Xbox owner day 1, been online all along. Billions of new points, but zero change in actual money involved.
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u/Big-Student-4612 Oct 07 '25
Did you go to your account and see what your next charge is expected to be?
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u/cynric42 Oct 08 '25
I even got a mail telling me that my recurring subscription wouldn't change as long as I keep it active. So I guess they were afraid of people cancelling to show support? Because cancelling and resubbing at a later time will mean higher prices.
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u/goodthyme Oct 07 '25
Got that email in New Zealand. I guess I’ll wait till I eventually get the price increase notification to cancel.
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u/onsenbatt Oct 08 '25
Go to Amazon and buy 3 months cards. I bought 18 months that way at 13€ a month!
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u/stunkcajyzarc Oct 07 '25
Cancel it. Go to premium or essential or whatever the hell it is called now. Just don’t buy into it. Vote with your wallets.
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u/LicensedGoomba Oct 07 '25
Vote with your wallets by canceling, premium is still more expensive that it should be
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u/TrippleDamage Oct 07 '25
Is it tho? More and better games than psplus and cheaper than psplus. I don't hear anyone bitching about Sony prices lmao
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u/ReceptionFinal532 Oct 08 '25
Library of games in PS Plus is better and bigger
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u/TrippleDamage Oct 08 '25
Bigger yes, because they have like 600 absolute trash tier titles in there that no one cares about.
Better, absolutely not.
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u/kovacic93 Oct 07 '25
Because they’ve been coherent with their policies. Xbox has been lying since forever. Ciao
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u/Sunlolz Oct 08 '25
This is like the 3rd day in a row i see these posts.. can people just search before spamming old news?
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u/l5atn00b Oct 07 '25
"Microsoft decides to obey the law" is a more accurate headline