Xbox Game Pass: Which Of The Four Tiers Is Best To Sign Up For?

4 tiers isn't really that many to get confused over if you have enough brain cells to rub together but ultimate is obviously is the best all together 4 quid extra over the 2nd tier plan is a no brainer!

Ultimate only 😎 throw the rest in bin🤣

I’m on the annual plan, the only one that actually makes financial sense. Converting annual Core codes is so much cheaper than paying month-by-month. I made use of the 1:1 conversion back when that was a thing, equivalent of £2.70/month for three years. Even at the current 2:1 conversion ratio it’s less than half the price of paying monthly.

Did we ever find out if day one releases eventually come to Standard tier?
How many games are not in the standard tier compared to the Ultimate?
Intentionally vague in my opinion. Not interest in multiplayer or EA games but will end up getting Ultimate teir. Not even interested in Day one releases, they all need patching first.

Before we got Standard, there was a Console tier that had Day 1 games, but you couldn't always play the games or all the content as that was 'online' and locked behind Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Gold). In other words, for you to play some of the Games offered in Game Pass under your subscription, you needed another Subscription - which was fundamentally wrong - you are paying for access to those Games/modes yet can't due to not having 'Gold/Core' online access.

For example, Games like Back4Blood or Call of Duty are (or have) Online modes that require Game Pass Core/PS+ subscriptions to play. If you only subbed to GP Console, despite that game being 'available' as part of your Sub fee, you couldn't play it without Subbing to Gold/Game Pass Core. Now if that game is in GP Standard, its playable...

Therefore, it made more sense to either Subscribe to Gold purely for Online Access or Subscribe to Ultimate to get Online Access and Game Pass in one 'convenient' Subscription. EA Access too was an extra bonus. Now of course, consumers may choose Standard and play EVERY game/mode they want

Now you have '3' tiers for Console gamers - Core with a handful of games you can play, Standard with around 10x the number of games you can play and Ultimate adding in Day 1 releases and EA Access - and ALL will let you play ALL the content, nothing hidden behind another Subscription.

I went from Ultimate to Core earlier this year. Microsoft had (still has?) a three monthly payment option that was only £17.99. Since I don't use most of the Ultimate features and prefer to buy games to own rather than rent it has saved me a fair bit of money.

Although I currently have ultimate I only buy from third parties at discount and always have auto-renewal turned off

Rewards points can pay for a month of Ultimate at 12,000 points per month (USA), which can be set to auto-renew. Essentially free if you put the work in.

The year of GPU I got free when I changed ISP's expires on the 21st September and I won't be renewing it. It's a great service if you want to play a lot of different games, but over the past year I've just been buying what I actually want to play, usually when it's on sale on Steam or CDKeys has a good deal on it, and that suits me fine.

I can't see the point in paying a monthly fee when I'm only really using it to play Forza Motorsport and Horizon 5 every now and then.

My three years of stacked GPU is coming to an end in October. I think by going through Turkey and converting Games With Gold, I bought three years for about £75 in 2021. GPU sold me on Xbox (was away from anything but Wii for about 10 years), as I wanted to try a bunch of stuff. Now I know what I like in regards to modern video games, I'm not sure I'll be getting a subscrpition to GPU or similar. I don't play enough to justify full price. Having said that, I selected GP Standard in the poll as the one that interests me because I don't need day one releases and I like the EA Sports games, but they're very cheap if you're willing to wait. Plus, the conversion from GP Core to GP Standard makes it a good enough deal that I'd consider it.

I knew it would all end in tiers.

Crazy how PC Game Pass is cheaper than both Standard and Ultimate.

Where’s the XLG to GPU conversion tier? 😥

@Lup it’s actually genius, since there are far more PC users than Xbox users. Having it cheaper would, in theory, attract those PC gamers instead of forcing them to convert to xbox.

The Ultimate perk of having many exciting games in the future is one I have been enjoying for some time, and the titles included have remained very consistent : )

I kid. I kid cuz I love

Only looking at these 4 services, the PC Tier offers best value for money.

You basically get everything and more, except the ability to play via Cloud.

@FarmDog08 free if you put the work in? How’s that free then?

Outside of that ultimate is really the only way to go

@Savage_Joe

I know that. Maybe I should have expressed myself better.
I'm just salty that after spending money on their console I have to pay more. 😂

@Savage_Joe in theory. But PC players have a lot more choice in where they get their games from. You can shop around Steam, GOG, Epic, etc, there's key sellers online, Humble bundles, Prime Gaming... Plus games on Xbox PC are often subject to the same constraints as they are on console. PC Game Pass just doesn't have the same pulling power as console Game Pass, in my opinion anyway.

@Savage_Joe

You're right, that's how they got me as a customer! I started out as a PC game pass subscriber to play a few games I was interested in and just kept finding more stuff I wanted to play.

Ended up getting an XSX to make playing in the living room easier and upgrading to Ultimate. I play through 50+ game pass games per year so definitely been worth it.

The PC to console customer acquisition pipeline is a smart angle.

I thought regulars on this site hammered Sony for having 3 tiers?

Whilst choice can be good, it can also be confusing and I'd except anyone considering a sub but not up on the news to be confused by these offerings and simply not bother. I don't see that this will help their stagnant subs grow again, but I hope I'm wrong.

GPU by some way. I’m surprised anyone who loves gaming does not have GPU. So many games. I know some question it but I think it offers a great way to game and experience many different genres and titles. And for me, that’s worth every penny I spend on it.

@MjJmediablogger it because usually people who loves gaming like to own their games. So they will buy them, not rent them.

@jikflet Renting games is nothing new. I used to rent games in the 80’s from Blockbuster. Try before you buy. No bad thing.

Been subbed to Ultimate for a while now and I don't regret it. Still buy games when they are on sale and I know it is a game I might want to play indefinitely.

@jikflet People who love games love playing them. Not everyone is a collector.