GameStop publicly ignored Microsoft's decision to increase the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and promised to continue selling the subscription service at the old price of US$19.99 per month in online and offline stores.The promise comes just a day after GameStop teased "nothing for nothing" after Microsoft announced a price increase earlier this week.
On Wednesday, GameStop issued a statement on the
Exactly how GameStop can continue to offer Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at the old price is unclear.But what is certain is that GameStop listened to the dissatisfaction about the price increase.Instead, Microsoft is reportedly trying to calm things down by considering a free, ad-supported version of Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Players have been canceling Game Pass subscriptions en masse after Microsoft announced price increases earlier this week - most egregiously, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is now priced at $29.99 per month.Even the Xbox Game Pass PC version has increased from $11.99 per month to $16.49 per month.At that price, it's hard to make sense to actually rent games through a subscription instead of buying them outright, especially with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Take high-priced new games like "The Outer Worlds 2" as an example.You might have originally planned to avoid its $70 price tag with Game Pass, but now it turns out that you won’t be able to save money—because Xbox Game Pass Ultimate only requires a few months of subscription, and the cost is the same as buying the game outright.Additionally, when you play through Game Pass, your saves are effectively locked behind the subscription service, meaning that if you later decide to purchase a game you played on Game Pass on another platform, you'll need to start saving again.
GameStop has promised to continue offering Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at the old price (at least for now), giving some respite to gamers unwilling to pay an extra $10 a month.Currently, you can still buy redemption codes for this subscription service at the old price on Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and Loaded (formerly CDKeys).
