Microsoft has confirmed it has scrapped the Xbox Game Pass discount on DLC purchases. Instead, it’s giving subscribers more points for use in its Rewards scheme.
Last week, as part of controversial changes made to Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft was found to have pulled the 10% discount on DLC for Game Pass games that Ultimate subscribers were able to get, seemingly in favor of its new Rewards scheme.
The news first emerged when the Call of Duty community noticed that Ultimate subscribers were no longer eligible for 10% off COD Points purchases as well as Blackcell, the more expensive version of Call of Duty’s battle pass that can only be bought directly with real world money for $29.99. The discount was seen as highly valuable for fans who play Call of Duty via Game Pass.
But fans discovered that the discount removal extended beyond Call of Duty to encompass the majority of individual DLC packs for Game Pass games. None of this was mentioned in last week’s Ultimate subscription price rise announcement.
Xbox Games Series Tier List
Xbox Games Series Tier List
Microsoft has now issued IGN a statement confirming the change and pointing subscribers to its official website for more information.
“This is not specific to any one game and reflects all games and DLC purchases. Instead of a discount on the purchases, Ultimate and Premium subscribers will earn 10% and 5% — respectively — in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library. Ultimate members continue to have 20% discount on select games from the Game Pass library. On top of that, all Rewards members will earn points when shopping games and add-ons on the Store, while Premium and Ultimate subscribers will earn even more, 2x and 4x respectively. See more detail on the Game Pass Rewards program here.”
Clearly, Microsoft’s play here, like so many retailers, is to keep your money swirling around its ecosystem rather than your bank account. Microsoft wants its customers to spend the full amount, and will then give the saving back to them in Reward points so they can in turn spend those on gift cards, keeping the cash in the Xbox ecosystem rather than letting customers save their own money.
It’s the latest development in what has been a bruising week for Microsoft’s Game Pass, which kicked off with a backlash over Microsoft’s decision to raise the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $19.99 a month to $29.99 a month (an extra $120 a year).
To justify the increase in price of Ultimate, Microsoft has increased the number of day one releases per year to 75, and has added Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics for the first time ever. There are also upgrades to Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming quality.
Ubisoft+ Classics — valued at $7.99 / £6.99 per month per platform — is now part of Ultimate. Starting November 18, Fortnite Crew — which itself costs $11.99 / £9.99 a month — will be included in Ultimate, with access to the Fortnite Battle Pass and 1,000 V-Bucks each month.
The cloud gaming boost amounts to better performance. Ultimate subscribers “exclusively enjoy our best quality streaming and shortest wait times,” Microsoft said. Xbox Cloud Gaming has also officially exited beta “as part of our commitment to make gameplay smoother and more responsive.”
Microsoft said the new $30 a month Ultimate price reflects “the expanded catalog, new partner benefits, and upgraded cloud gaming experience.”
The new Premium tier (what was called Standard) will add new Xbox-published games within a year of their launch, but that excludes Call of Duty games. This means that if you want to play Call of Duty via Game Pass in a timely fashion, you’re pretty much forced into paying for Ultimate. Over the course of a year, that’s $360. And now, you don’t even get 10% off COD Points or BlackCell.
Fans are running the numbers and reassessing whether Game Pass remains right for them. Black Ops 7, which just launched in beta form ahead of its November release date, is a $70 game (Microsoft backtracked on $80 after a gamer outcry at the cost of Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds 2). IGN’s poll on the issue, which now has over 32,000 voters, shows 53.2% of our audience will not subscribe to Game Pass at all. 20.7% said they were going for Ultimate despite the price rise.
Photo by Mateusz Slodkowski/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
