Microsoft admits Game Pass price hike drove away "millions" of subscribers

[midian182]

Facepalm: If there's a sure way to lose a huge number of subscribers to your successful service, it's implementing a massive price hike. It seems Microsoft was unaware of this obvious fact when it increased Game Pass prices last year, only now admitting that "millions" of people left as a result. It wasn't long before Microsoft reversed this (under new leadership), lowering prices closer to their original levels.

Speaking during a Summer Game Fest interview with Game Business Live (via GameSpot), Microsoft's recently installed Xbox chief strategy officer, Matthew Ball, spoke about the impact of the Game Pass price hikes that were introduced last October.

The change saw Game Pass Ultimate jump 50%, rising from $19.99 to $29.99 per month. PC Game Pass also increased from $11.99 to $16.49, marking nearly a 40% hike.

Unsurprisingly, there were so many people cancelding their subscriptions at the time that the Microsoft website became overloaded with requests, causing it to fail to load properly.

Now, Ball has revealed that "millions" of subscribers left the service during the few months after the price increases were announced.

In April, an internal memo from Xbox's new CEO, Asha Sharma, acknowledged that Game Pass had grown too expensive, and that reductions were planned. Sure enough, premium and PC-only plans were cut a few weeks later, making them only slightly more expensive than they were before the October hikes.

The downside for Call of Duty fans was that the games would no longer be available on the service at launch. Instead, they will come to Game Pass about a year after their release.

Dropping the prices had the desired effect. Sharma said in May that Game Pass acquisitions had grown and retention improved, which she defined as "a good first step."

Ball echoed that sentiment. He said that the changes to Game Pass are "resonating" with users.

Sharma's lack of gaming experience and previous position as an AI executive led to many people claiming her appointment was the death knell of Xbox. Seamus Blackley, best known for creating and designing the original Xbox in 2001, said Sharma's job was "going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."

But Sharma has won over many people since her appointment. In addition to the Game Pass reversal, she has pushed for a return to Xbox console exclusivity and killed the much-maligned Gaming Copilot for Xbox and mobile.

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Microsoft admits Game Pass price hike drove away "millions" of subscribers

 

[Megalomaniac]

I feel we are oversaturated with games. Some people may find gamepass to be great, but I myself don't feel I should have to spend any more than I already do to play on Xbox Live. I've gotten some decent free games on Xbox Live, but it's usually the single-player games with no multiplayer component I never would have bought otherwise.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

My daughter hasn't decided if she's taking the Xbox with her when she goes to college. If she does, I'll keep paying the game pass sub (whatever one it is below the ultimate pass). If she doesn't take it, then I'm pulling the plug on the game pass and save myself the roughly $17 a month. I don't use the Xbox and my son doesn't use it, so no need in keeping the game pass subscription going. I rarely play any PC games off the Xbox game pass so I won't be missing it if I get to drop it.

I know when MS jacked up the price and told my daughter I will keep paying the middle tier, so the cost is about what I was paying, or I'm canceling it because I wasn't paying an extra $10 a month for something she uses about once a week. So I moved to the middle tier when the price hikes came around.

 

[dangh]

If not for kids jumping through games, I wouldn't get the ps plus extra either. I don't care about playing hundreds games, I am more happy to pay a full price for a single, great title, and still have some ownership over it. Current subs based world is made to suck people dry.

 

[Axeia]

Subscription services tend to use a watered down version of the drug dealer sales model.
Instead of getting your first free dose to get you hooked you get something more convenient than the alternative a bit cheaper. They want you hooked on the convenience.

Once the user base is big enough that 'cheaper' part starts to erode by gradual price increases. The convenience becomes inconvenient unless you pay even more on top of the other price increases because they divvy it up into different tiers. Move features away from the cheap tier, insert ads into the cheapest tier etc etc.
(Don't believe me? Name one subscription service that has gotten better or cheaper after gaining market dominance)

Never even tried game pass even though it was very attractive because I already know what it'll become. Wasn't interested in boosting Microsofts numbers for it.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

I feel we are oversaturated with games. Some people may find gamepass to be great, but I myself don't feel I should have to spend any more than I already do to play on Xbox Live. I've gotten some decent free games on Xbox Live, but it's usually the single-player games with no multiplayer component I never would have bought otherwise.

It wouldn’t be an issue if the new content was……good. But it isn’t. Most of the AAA scene has been dumping absolute slop for the last decade and consumers are increasingly fed up with it.

The PS2 era had tons of absolute bangers and it wouldn’t take someone literal decades to play them all, but game sales on the 360/ps3 didn’t suffer because they were still putting out bangers.

 

[toooooot]

Microsoft to Xbox: your pass does not bring enough money, our rules require bigger profit.
Xbox: *raises pass price*, people leave in droves.
The end.
I think their pass has eaten sh*tload of money, billions and billions. But at least it is a better investment than
what Sony does. Sony is sick with live service fever like many other "admirers" of Fortnight. After Concord, after marathon, some would hope they awoke from their nightmare.

First streaming service became the best money maker. But in gaming industry, the spot for the first is still open.

 

[trparky]

Who could have seen this coming?

Oh, I don’t know, just about anybody who has two brain cells to rub together.

 

[Durch]

In other words the highly payed executives who were both greedy and so far removed from the lives of the average consumer thought it was justifiable to raise the price due to the fact it doesn't squeeze their wallet. One has to imagine if those subscribers decided not to return if they'd lower the price more since we now know the juice wasn't worth the squeeze at the time they raised it.

 

[Schwalbe]

Not only did I cancel my Xbox sub, I just went ahead and sold my Xbox Series X. That's how bad Microsoft pissed me off when they damn near doubled the monthly sub...

 

[scavengerspc]

Who is better than Microsoft at destroying success?

 

[oasked]

Cancelled my GamePass subscription and sold my Xbox after the price hikes. Bought a Playstation 5 instead when they were on sale last November.

What's the point of having an Xbox if everything is eventually released on PS5 anyway?

I won't be coming back.

 

[KnightSayNI]

And I'm still driven away. Over 20 bucks a month for a few games is not worth it.

 

[OortCloud]

So much goodwill and brand sentiment have been destroyed by MS in the last couple of years. Not just with Game Pass, but with the whole Xbox name (and with Windows too). Their commitment to their console seemed so vague and unconvincing as they were obsessing over Copilot and AI and leaving all the real parts of their business to rot. The whole 'This is an Xbox' campaign has been a cluster**** and the lack of convincing information on next gen hardware didn't help. They are still obsessing over AI but trying to do it a little more quietly.

Game Pass may have come down from the ludicrous price they ratcheted it up to but it's still way higher than it was a couple of years ago. I cancelled my sub and won't return. Sony have hardly been hitting home runs with the PlayStation over the last couple of years either, but given the open goal MS have left them they have managed to bungle along. Like so much in the corporate world, it's strange times with the weirdest and most irrational decision making going on at the top of big corporations. It feels like they have so much money now they seem to try and invent ways to throw it away.

 

[RudyBob]

My daughter hasn't decided if she's taking the Xbox with her when she goes to college.

Reminds me of my friend back in the 60's whose parents bought him a TV to take to college and he said to me..."How dumb is that?"

 

[BadThad]

Reminds me of my friend back in the 60's whose parents bought him a TV to take to college and he said to me..."How dumb is that?"

At least back then there were only like 3 channels! There wasn't as much distracting content as today. lol

Campuses are shadows of their former, pre-cell self. Students mostly sit in isolation staring at screens anymore. It's truly sad what has happened.

 

[LordVile95]

Cancelled my GamePass subscription and sold my Xbox after the price hikes. Bought a Playstation 5 instead when they were on sale last November.

What's the point of having an Xbox if everything is eventually released on PS5 anyway?

I won't be coming back.

Bad news for you bud the PS5 sub is increasing and Xbox games aren’t launching on PS5 anymore. Plus PS5 exclusives have massively dipped in quality and frequency

 

[trparky]

Bad news for you bud the PS5 sub is increasing and Xbox games aren’t launching on PS5 anymore. Plus PS5 exclusives have massively dipped in quality and frequency

Game quality has been going into the toilet across the industry.

 

[LordVile95]

Game quality has been going into the toilet across the industry.

Depends, Nintendo are solid and Xbox’s studios seem to be improving and actually have release dates

 

[LemmingO]

I feel we are oversaturated with games. Some people may find gamepass to be great, but I myself don't feel I should have to spend any more than I already do to play on Xbox Live. I've gotten some decent free games on Xbox Live, but it's usually the single-player games with no multiplayer component I never would have bought otherwise.

We are oversaturated with... everything. Everything has a new price tag. Streaming, gaming, gyms, everything

 

[bviktor]

It is clear as they Spencer was the victim of a coup.

They forced them to raise prices, then blamed them for poor sales.

Now they kicked him out, and immediately reverse the changes.... with a new executive duo, of course.

What a joke.

 

[KnightSayNI]

Just like the movie industry, we ran out of ideas. Creativity in our civilization has died and replaced with hate. Thank you, internet.