Analysts Claim Xbox Game Pass Price Hikes Were 'Inevitable', And That An Ad-Tier Could Be Next
Image: Gemma Smith / Pure Xbox

Last week, Microsoft announced some big changes for Xbox Game Pass, including price increases across all tiers of the service. It all continues to feel like a messy mix-up, especially considering the lack of proper communication from the team on all of the changes involved. However, analysts who've looked at the move say the price hikes were 'inevitable' - and they think that the service isn't done changing and evolving just yet.

Over at IGN, the team has put together an extensive look at these Game Pass changes - with input from various gaming analysts on why this happened and what comes next. George Jijiashvili of analyst group Omdia thinks that Microsoft's price bumps were "inevitable" in order to increase "average revenue per user" - especially with Call of Duty coming to Xbox Game Pass soon.

Elsewhere, certain folks think that Microsoft removing 'some' day one releases from lower Game Pass tiers is an attempt to push players towards Xbox Game Pass Ultimate; the team's highest tier. Ampere Analysis reckons almost 75% of current subscribers have Ultimate - meaning over a quarter of Game Pass users are there and waiting to be convinced by Microsoft's Game Pass Ultimate tier.

Finally, an ad-supported tier has also come up in conversation here. Joost Van Dreunen of Parsec Gaming expects a pretty big shift towards a cheaper Game Pass tier with adverts in the near future. Here's what he had to say on that potential strategy:

"There will be three phases, roughly. Initially, I expect ads to show up as banner ads inside of the Xbox and Game Pass menus. Mostly as a test case, it will start slow.

However, once Microsoft develops this capability over the next few years, I anticipate interstitial ads (during loading screens, for instance) as a second phase.

Finally, and assuming that this works out well for its ecosystem, Microsoft is likely to make an acquisition in the ad tech space to acquire the capability to both facilitate programmatic ads and a centralized inventory using existing ad industry metrics and tool sets. This last component is obviously the furthest out."

As is always the case with analysts and such, these are informed opinions based on experience and importantly, data - but that doesn't mean they're all going to happen. Anyway, the full IGN piece is well worth a read, as they've gathered up plenty of information for this broad look at Xbox Game Pass. Oh, and as you ponder these potential changes in the future, you can check out what has been confirmed by Microsoft down below.

Thoughts on all of this? Tell us what you think is coming next down in the comments section.

[source ign.com]