A flood of Xbox users are rushing to cancel their Game Pass subscriptions today, after Microsoft announced a substantial increase in prices for the service – including a 50% increase for its highest tier.
BlueSky user Wario64 reported that the official Xbox webpage for cancellations became “overloaded,” presumably due to the announcement causing a spike in traffic.
the website to cancel Xbox Game Pass subscriptions is overloaded
— Wario64 (@wario64.bsky.social) October 1, 2025 at 11:23 AM
Microsoft announced that Game Pass will now be available in the following three tiers and prices:
- Essential (formerly Core): $9.99 / £6.99 per month
- Premium (formerly Standard): $14.99 / £10.99 per month (was $11.99 / £9.99)
- Ultimate: $29.99 / £22.99 per month (was $19.99 / £14.99)
PC Game Pass, a separate subscription for PC-only games, will also see an increase in its monthly fee from $11.99 / £9.99 to $16.49 / £13.49.
The upgraded service will include more content, with Ultimate subscribers getting “access to over 75 day one releases a year” as well as “Fortnite Crew & Ubisoft+ Classics for the first time ever, enhanced Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming quality up to 1440p, Rewards with Xbox, and more.”
More details are included in the official infographic below.
For comparison’s sake, Nintendo Switch Online, while focused more on providing retro content than new releases, offers access to over 190 games from $1.66 / £1.50 per month. With the Expansion Pack subscription, there are over 300 games from $4.16 / £2.92 per month.
More about Nintendo Switch Online
Nintendo Switch Online now features a CRT filter and button mapping for SNES games
Nintendo states Wind Waker HD could still come to Switch 2 despite being on Nintendo Switch Online
Virtual Boy returns as a Switch accessory, games coming to Nintendo Switch Online in February 2026
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Written by Reece Heather
A veteran Zelda Universe editor and First-class journalism graduate, Reece emerged with a Nintendo 64 and a lifelong obsession after a narrow escape from Santa’s Naughty List in 1998. Outside of games, he’s reading Punisher comics, being bossed around by his cocker spaniel, and cornering innocent bystanders to rant about the importance of game preservation.
