Microsoft Nerfs XBL Gold to Game Pass Ultimate Conversion, Though $1 Promotion for New Users Is Back

It's the end of an era as Microsoft has nerfed the XBL Gold to Game Pass Ultimate conversion, which however still remains the cheapest way.

[franwex]

Pretty much as we all predicted. After a while, they’re gonna bring it back.

[fr0sty]

MS is obviously digging into the couch for loose change to try to make Xbox profitable... It's a sure sign of a company division losing money when they start nickel and diming, raising prices, etc.

[GamerRN]

I mean, would you say the same thing when Sony increased their prices and raised console costs?

For some reason, I don't think you would...

[mandf]

They aren't losing money. Ms is.

[fr0sty]

I mean, Sony has been profitable on hardware, software, and services consistently. MS has not, so...

[GamerRN]

You guys DO realize Sony as a company was bleeding money and for a little while Playstation was their only profitable division...

[sertz]

It's sadly true. For a while there everyone was getting along nice and cozy playing crossplay once it was finally a thing (thank you Microsoft! They pushed this since Xbox Live was a thing in 2002) because Sony wasn't having any of the crossplay bullsh**. They straight up didn't want to do it.

So third party devs started implementing their own way of doing it, and Sony just had to agree. They are a greedy, insurance minded company. They are one of the biggest insurance providers in Japan. And who do you know personally that "likes" their insurance company?! Not many that I know. That's their money maker. Then they poach good devs, in addition to coaxing them in to exclusivity deals because of previous collaborations that turned out well for the devs.

I can't blame the devs, honestly. I would take a fat paycheck for an exclusive game, sure. But if I saw profits soaring above that if I released multi-plat, thats the obvious choice. Can you imagine how much more money Spider Man would have made released on the Series consoles?! Yeah, a ****-ton.

Sony is losing money on consoles hand over fist. So is Microsoft. Switch and the direction Nintendo has taken is the only console maker that is actually making money on their hardware right now. M$ and Sony continue to battle, but they have a very different point of view on the gaming industry. M$ wants huge multi-player titles as well as engaging single player titles every few years. Sony wants huge single player exclusives and couldn't care less about multi-plat titles.

Problem with that is when Microsoft starts picking up smaller devs and makes their games exclusive, people will be forced to make a decision. M$ has a good deal more assets in the bank. Sony isn't doing so shabby, in the 143 billion range. M$ has about 2.3 trillion. I mean... It isn't even close. The only thing M$ has to worry about is becoming a monopoly legally. They just need to choose their purchases carefully and they will succeed. Sony however... Hopefully their insurance industry is going well in Japan.

[GamerRN]

You guys act like you know what you are talking about. Saying Microsoft is kidding money, etc...

Microsoft has shown that it actually makes more money despite being behind in sales thanks to Gamepass and other things.

[porkChop]

Or it's a sign of the current economy. It's almost like console prices and stuff have recently gone up as well.

[blackblades]

IDK about that I heard prices going down slowly for food etc

[The Wood]

and fuel

[fr0sty]

This would be believable if Xbox had not been in the red since it's inception.

[fr0sty]

The economy isn't that bad off... In fact, the federal reserve is raising interest rates to try to slow consumer spending to ease inflation, but people keep spending more anyway, which is why they are looking to hike interest rates at least 2 more times. If people were broke, they wouldn't be spending so much.

[ManMarmalade]

That's what happens when you try to buy up the competition and have companies make games like Redfall.

[shaenoide]

After a soon to be 70 billions purchase of AKB they need to be make money.

[ocelot07]

Hopefully the £1 a month offer is like it was in past let sub expire give it a day or two and a new £1 a month or 3 is offered.

[EvertonFC]

Not had new subscription total users since January 2022, I'm guessing it's still around the 25m mark hense no new number update since the £1 offer stopped ? I wonder WHY.

[shinoff2183]

Probably lost some.

Using the old pay a dollar subscription and hope they forget about it so it keeps recurring every month from their account trick. I see you ms

[DarXyde]

They definitely lost some.

It was a popular (and legal) "exploit". With Starfield around the corner, I reckon they're really looking to juice the numbers for engagement purposes. It's XGP day one and a $1 deal will definitely help with that.

It is an interesting point though that they haven't shared numbers in a while. There is definitely going to be a loss in subs and I think that's easy enough to explain to shareholders. If I had to guess, the decline in memberships was at a minimum statistically significant; at worst, I would say we're looking at a drop that is an existential threat to the viability of the service. Naturally, some revenue beats no revenue. So they're likely to get those people back, along with newcomers ahead of Starfield.

For how long, who can say.

[EvertonFC]

Agreed, MS have been boasting there sub numbers but all of a sudden nothing since Jan 2022 that's 18 months. Definitely stayed the same or less imo

[DarXyde]

EvertonFC,

I don't think it's stagnant. I'm feeling very confident it's a drop, and likely big enough to warrant concern.

If we return to the stakeholder argument, I think they would say "while there was no growth in subscribers, removal of the $1 XGP deal was a net positive for revenue, showing the value of the service as users retained their memberships, irrespective of the increased cost for some."

Microsoft is the master of spin, and I think they're at a place where they can't really spin it.

[Father__Merrin]

Last month I forgot to turn off recur billing after using a monthly ganepass code so I'm 10.99 down now

[crazyCoconuts]

$1 snipes are back! Hope it's still around when Starfield releases

[raWfodog]

I was wondering if that was the reason they are bringing it back. They know a lot of people will probably sign up just to play Starfield, and then they’ll release new updated subscriptions numbers as ‘proof’ that gamers are flocking to GP.

[crazyCoconuts]

That's fine with me they can post what they want as I play their game virtually for free. Glad there are regular GP subscribers to help pay for that privilege ☺️

[EvertonFC]

And people fall for it pmsl 😂🤣

[Tedakin]

Got my Gamepass renewed through May 2026 cheap before the price change. :D

[wiz7191]

It’s crazy , ppl are mad because a company is closing a loophole so people can’t CHEAP their way into a service ???

[jjb1981]

This is the best service and value in gaming.....until I have to pay full price.
Anyway, I'm sure the numbers will go up once Starfield comes out.

[Destiny1080]

all these unnecessary price hikes are killing xbox

[jznrpg]

Got to get those failing numbers up and hope some forget to turn off autorenew

[wiz7191]

If ppl wasn’t taking advantage and being cheap ASF they wouldn’t have took it away in the first place .. $1 month is supposedly only for new members not existing members , if ppl stop making a thousand accounts so get years of GP for $1 each .. We wouldn’t ppl in this so called problem