Game subscription services just got dramatically more expensive with Xbox announcing a brutal jump to $30 per month for Game Pass Ultimate starting soon. That’s $360 annually, or roughly five full-priced AAA games worth of subscription fees. Right now though, Amazon offers a brief escape hatch from this pricing chaos: The 3-month Game Pass Ultimate membership dropped to $54, down from $59, which gives you one final opportunity to lock in three months at the equivalent of $18 per month before that $30 monthly rate becomes your only option.
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Everything You Get Before Prices Skyrocket
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provides access to over 400 games across console, PC, and cloud gaming platforms which makes it the best gaming subscription available. The service offers day-one access to every Xbox Game Studios release, every Bethesda title, and now every Activision Blizzard game right at launch. This means you can play big titles like Avowed, South of Midnight, and Doom: The Dark Ages as soon as they come out, without having to pay $70 for each game. The day-one feature alone is worth the subscription for anyone who plays more than two new releases a year.
EA Play membership is included with Ultimate at no extra cost: This adds more value by giving access to franchises like Battlefield, Star Wars, FIFA, and Madden. You receive full games, not limited trials or smaller versions, along with exclusive in-game rewards and early access to select new EA titles before they officially launch. Online console multiplayer is included too, eliminating the need for a separate Xbox Live Gold subscription that previously cost $60 a year on its own.
Xbox Cloud Gaming has evolved from an experimental feature into a full service that streams games to nearly any device you own: You can play on your console, PC through the Xbox app, mobile phones, tablets, Amazon Fire TV Sticks, select Samsung smart TVs, and even certain VR headsets without downloading large game files. The cloud set-up allows you to start playing a game on your console, continue it on your phone during lunch, and finish on your laptop without losing progress. Streaming quality goes up to 1080p with an Ultimate membership, although the upcoming $30 tier is expected to offer 1440p streaming and faster server access to reduce wait times during busy hours.
At $54 for three months, you’re paying about $18 monthly compared to the upcoming $30 rate. That $36 difference over three months adds up to savings equal to a full-priced game. Stock on these pre-increase memberships seems limited, with Amazon showing high sales as news of the price hike circulates.
Xbox Slashes Its 3-Month Game Pass Ultimate to a New Low, Your Last Shot Before Price Hike
