Have you taken in the news about all of Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass changes yet? Don't worry, we're still a little confused by the service's new structure as well, but gaming analyst Daniel Ahmad has provided some insight as to part of the reason behind these changes to Xbox's subscription plans.
The well-known analyst has taken to Twitter to try and explain "one factor that influenced this move" from Team Xbox. In short, Ahmad says that slow growth outside of console means that Xbox seemingly wants to push its console user base to the higher tiers of Xbox Game Pass.
"One factor that influenced this move is that Game Pass is not seeing strong growth beyond the current Xbox console install base.
Therefore, the goal for current console gamers is to incentivise an upgrade to the higher priced Ultimate tier with day one games / cloud gaming etc.
PC & Mobile gamers haven’t purchased Game Pass at the rate Microsoft expected, and this cohort is where user growth needs to come from, which is why Game Pass PC tier will still have day one games."
Of course, the team is doing this by bumping the price of Game Pass Ultimate, while also including online access in the service's new middle tier; Xbox Game Pass Standard. Microsoft is seemingly hoping that Game Pass Standard and Game Pass Ultimate will become two attractive, higher-priced options for console subscribers.
Another curious note here is that Ahmad believes this slow growth outside of console is why PC Game Pass will still get day one releases at a much lower cost than any of the console options. For all of the new pricing details, check out our handy list down below.