DaRmaZat Microsoft Gaming has revealed a major overhaul of its subscription service, introducing three upgraded Xbox Game Pass tiers—Essential, Premium, and Ultimate—alongside a significant price increase for both Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Essential will replace Core at $9.99 per month and Premium will replace Standard at $14.99 per month, with no change in price for either. The Ultimate plan, however, has risen from $19.99 to $29.99 per month, marking a 50 percent increase. PC Game Pass, which maintains the same feature set as before, has also increased in cost by 40 percent, from $11.99 to $16.49.
Essential includes access to over 50 games across console, PC, and cloud, along with online multiplayer and in-game benefits. Premium expands that library to over 200 games and includes Xbox-published releases within a year of launch, though Call of Duty titles are excluded. Ultimate offers the most robust package with more than 400 games, over 75 day-one titles annually, as well as Ubisoft+ Classics, EA Play, and Fortnite Crew starting in November.
Alongside the new tiers, a large wave of titles has been added across each plan, with Ultimate users gaining access to franchises such as Assassin’s Creed, Far Cry, and Hogwarts Legacy, while Premium subscribers receive access to Diablo IV, Frostpunk 2, Manor Lords, and more. Essential subscribers also see additions like Hades and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.
