Just when you thought Microsoft wasn’t going to do anything to potentially risk alienating people even more, there’s a new rumor going around about the state of Xbox Game Pass and what might come next from it. If you recall, Microsoft announced that the Game Pass would get new tiers and a price hike. That wasn’t surprising at first until people saw that some of the tiers included the lowest-price versions not having access to the “Day One” AAA titles as they launch, and it would get more expensive to get all the perks the pass is supposed to have naturally.
According to Windows Central, that “division of tiers” isn’t going to stop anytime soon. They claim to have sources stating that two more tiers are heading toward the Game Pass, though their prices haven’t been stated yet. The first is going to be a “Family Plan,” which Xbox has done in the past, and might be an affordable way for larger families to have their own pass without having to share one account. They did a test with this tier over the course of about a year at only $25, which apparently rubbed some publishers the wrong way as it was “too cheap.”
The other tier that is allegedly in the words is a “Cloud-Only” tier, as in, for people who don’t mind doing cloud-style gaming. If that sounds familiar, it’s because Microsoft almost had an Xbox that was a cloud gaming system. However, the cost for the servers and other elements was too high, and so it was scrapped for a more “traditional” style of console. That being said, the heads of Microsoft have been very clear that they feel cloud gaming is the future, so it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing for them to try out a tier in the Game Pass dedicated to that.
Obviously, since this isn’t confirmed by Microsoft yet, we can only take this as a rumor. However, the Xbox Game Pass is slowly becoming the publisher’s focus, and it shows. The new tiers we mentioned before are just one way that the Xbox brand is tilting to the pass over everything else. That being said, it’s not all smooth sailing. The backlash from the confirmed new tiers was loud, and even the FTC made a statement saying that Microsoft is doing wrong by consumers with these changes.
So, if they keep making more, there could be even more backlash in the future.
