An email from Microsoft appears to confirm that the Game Pass price increase will only apply to some Xbox players and not others. The new statement has sparked a wave of confusion over the company’s new policy.
Xbox Game Pass Price Hike Only Impacts Users Who Cancel Their Subscription
As if the messaging over Microsoft’s recent Xbox strategy wasn’t confusing enough, here we go again! According to multiple users on the ResetEra forum, Microsoft has begun to send out emails to Game Pass subscribers saying the price increase isn’t going to affect everyone. In the notice, Microsoft states that the new price hike will only impact players who cancel their subscription in certain regions. Yes, you read that right.
“You may have recently heard about changes to Xbox Game Pass subscription prices. At this time, these increases will only apply to new purchases and will not affect your current subscription in your region, provided you are on a recurring plan. If you decide to cancel your current plan and repurchase, you will be charged the new rate.” Strangely, it appears this email was only sent out to some players. Users from Austria, Germany, Italy, India, and Korea, have received the notice.
Adding even more confusion to the situation is that many players reported getting a different email. In the second notice sent out, Microsoft specifically tells users that the price of their current subscription will go up by 50% by the next payment cycle. So yeah, this rollout is an absolute mess. Depending on where you live, you may not be impacted by the Xbox Game Pass price increase. But it also seems to be random at this point.
Selective GP Price Increases Anger Players
As you can imagine, Xbox players weren’t too thrilled with the idea of certain users being charged 50% more while others get to keep their old subscription pricing. Game Pass fans took to social media to vent their frustrations. Many criticized Microsoft for punishing new subscribers or those who recently canceled the service after the price hike was announced.
“Does this make any sense? Newcomers get the insane price that they will instantly disregard and not bother. While the old guard who would probably be willing to pay get the old price as long as they don’t cancel auto-renewal? This is like opposite of business 101,” a user wrote. Another player replied, “A/B testing is well and good. But doing it for pricing increases is absolutely stupid because it’s an even bigger slap in the face to those getting the increase.”
So yeah, it’s currently up in the air how Microsoft is deciding which users the Game Pass price increase impacts. Some have theorized that this is a reaction to the mass wave of recent Game Pass cancellations. As a result, Microsoft might be testing out the two prices to see whether the strategy is worth doing. However, it’s only further angered Xbox players, who feel that the selective Xbox Game Pass price increase is unfair.
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