Microsoft seems to have increased the price Xbox Game Pass Ultimate More than 100% in many regions outside the US, including Brazil, Turkey and Colombia. In the US, the new Xbox Game Pass prices for the highest level of 50% increase, which caused many subscribers to cancel their subscription. However, the financial impact of Microsoft's decision in other regions seems much harder.
October 1, Xbox Game Pass prices increased again, making the final level $ 30 per month. Microsoft framed the change as an upgrade and stressed that the new prize includes more benefits and a larger game library. For example, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate now includes a Classics Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew subscription and offers at least 75 day titles annually. Although these benefits are almost the same in all regions, some players in some countries will face much higher prices for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Price has doubled in some regions
According to Brazilian drain Tecnoblog, the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in Brazil almost doubled up to the previous 60 BRL (~ 11 USD) increased by 99.9% to 120 Brazilian real (~ 22 USD). Similar news came from players in Colombia, Turkey and South Africa, some claiming that the price of the subscription jumped by almost 165%. The worst part is that some of the new features of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Tier, which were to be justifiable in these regions. For example, the fan pointed out that upgraded 1440p streaming via cloud games is not available in Brazil. In other words, some players will have to pay more and less.
To illustrate how these excessive prices are affected by players in regions such as Brazil, it is worth noting that the minimum wage of the Earth is about 1,500 BRL per month (via CXC Global). This means that the average player will have to spend nearly 8% of his monthly income on Game Pass Ultimate. Not surprisingly, there has been significant resistance against the new Microsoft Prize, and many content creators in these regions urge users to cancel their Xbox Game Pass.
Some believe that the October price increase could be the last straw and potentially expose Xbox to the disadvantage in the console war. However, it remains to find out whether the current will is pushing Microsoft to accept the modified Xbox Game Pass strategy in the markets outside the US. It will also be interesting to see how the controversial new levels of Xbox Game Pass affect subscribers' base and whether the company will suffer large financial losses on the increase in cancellation.
