A while ago, I wrote about my decision to leave PlayStation and become an Xbox fanboy. I that it was one that served me quite well; I prefer the hardware, and the streaming service is amazing. That’s why it really hurts to see just what the hell Microsoft has been up to.
Obviously, the most recent culprit of this is the frankly terrible Game Pass price increase. Ultimate has shot from £14.99 per month to £22.99. An extra £8.00, which is over a 50% boost. £96.00 per year. That is the price of a single game in about three months, probably. Hyperbole? Yes, but it is shocking.
And what do we get from this? A bunch of Assassin’s Creed games, and apparently 50% more day one releases. I don’t think that is enough to justify almost an extra £100.00 a year. Now, according to this article by Polygon, Microsoft says as long as you don’t cancel your subscription, you will keep the regular prices. But, we don’t know for how long.
Microsoft’s official announcement was frustratingly plain
If you read the blog post they put out, Microsoft does their damnedest to justify the increase. Ultimate gets you 1440p streaming, 75 day one releases, Fortnite Crew, which they say costs £9.99 a month, and Ubisoft+ Classics, which is £6.99 a month. You can also earn around £100.00 a year just by playing games. So actually, the price increase is saving us money, aren’t they so thoughtful? So if we take it on its face, this is just the cost of giving us a better service.
I would like to point out one line towards the beginning of the post: “We know not everyone wants the same thing in their Xbox experience”. So, if we don’t play Fortnite and don’t like Ubisoft, can we drop that for the old price? Nah, we just have to pay more for these things we don’t care about to keep the old benefits or Ultimate. Not to mention the fact that those of us with jobs will never play enough to get close to that £100.00 benefit.
And that’s about all the justification they have given us. You are getting these things you don’t want, and you are paying more. As my friend pointed out, they haven’t even mentioned that the increased price would benefit developers. It’s just a bunch of add-ons that a lot of people won’t care about, and will have to pay 150% of the old value for.
The ROG Xbox Ally X is looking even more of a cash grab now
My biggest problem with this is not the extra cost, surprisingly. You have probably seen the upcoming ROG Xbox Ally X, a portable computer that has the Xbox streaming service bolted on. The X costs £799.99, and is out of stock everywhere, whilst the lesser standard ROG Ally is 499.00. Both are pretty expensive, but you get to play Steam and Xbox games, which is pretty cool.
Or at least, it was cool. Then they increased the price of the Game Pass, in what I can only see as an incredibly blatant and gross cash grab. You won’t buy a ROG Xbox Ally without subscribing to Game Pass. What would be the point? So, is it just a coincidence that the Ally X has been selling out, and then Microsoft just decides to pull this price hike?
To me, the timing just feels so disgusting. They should have made the announcement at the same time that the ROG Xbox Ally went on pre-order, that exact day. Not after a huge number of people have paid for the hardware, some of whom might be first-time Xbox users and therefore not already subscribed to benefit from this locked-in price.
Not the first time, not the last
This is just the latest in the long line of questionable decisions. Off the top of my head, I can think of the price hike for the console over in America, and sticking their name on a VR headset despite having no VR games. Yes, I bought it, and I am annoyed at myself for it. Not to mention that whole rigmarole when they danced around saying they are making no more future hardware.
It has been just a viciously depressing time lately, being a fan of video games. Nintendo has become greedy, layoffs and studio shut-downs are rife, and now Microsoft is pulling this sneaky rubbish. I wish there were an uplifting note to end on here, but I have nothing. I am just sad.
