Gamers who wish to trial Microsoft’s game subscription service will no longer be able to do that at a ridiculously cheap price. As reported by The Verge, Microsoft has stopped its $1 trial offer for its Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass services, and while the Windows maker didn’t care to explain why it was terminating the deal, the company did promise that it is evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future. Available for years, the $1 trial offer for Game Pass was a popular way for users to try out the service’s growing catalog of games before deciding whether or not to continue with a normal-priced subscription.
From The Verge:
“We have stopped our previous introductory offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass and are evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future,” says Kari Perez, head of global communications at Xbox, in a statement to The Verge.
The $1 trial has allowed people to sign up to Xbox Game Pass for a month, before the full Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription kicks in at $14.99 per month or $9.99 a month for the PC- or console-only subscriptions. It’s been a great way to recommend the service to a friend or family member, but we’ll now have to wait to see what these “different marketing promotions” are for new members.
Microsoft has also been working on its Friends & Family plan for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The plan lets you share Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefits with up to four other friends or family members. Pricing in Ireland is set at €21.99 per month (nearly $24), working out to less than $5 per person.
Microsoft expanded this Friends & Family plan to New Zealand, South Africa, Chile, Hungary, Israel, and Sweden recently, but it’s still not available in many European markets or the UK and US. This $1 trial removal could be a sign that Microsoft is getting ready to expand Friends & Family even further, after trialing this new subscription for less than a year.
Discussion (2 replies)
Join Discussion →And for users to find ways to continue to take advantage of the 1 dollar trials one after the other. Probably the real reason to remove it. Smart move is pause it for a quarter or two, then turn it on again for a quarter then pause it again. That way people get hooked into the content and don't want to loose access to the game/games in question for 3-6 months at a time.
I'm hoping this means we'll see the Family Game Pass option come out soon for North America.