Xbox Game Pass might get ad-supported tier

The game subscription service, which is available on Xbox consoles and PC, may be getting a cheaper, ad-supported tier.

Xbox Game Pass might be getting a cheaper, ad-supported tier that comes with a few more drawbacks, if an apparent recent survey is anything to go by.

Resetera forum user AImalexia posted a screenshot reportedly sent to them by a friend, showing off a recent Spanish-language survey apparently conducted by Microsoft, the company who makes Xbox consoles (thanks, Eurogamer!).

The survey reportedly asked users about two hypothetical subscription plans: a family plan that offers access to Game Pass benefits to multiple people and consoles, and a cheaper, ad-supported plan that would still come with most, but not all, of Game Pass’s benefits.

The family plan has already been confirmed by Microsoft, with a trial of the plan being tested in at least two countries as of September, but an ad-supported plan has yet to be officially mentioned or even hinted at by the company outside of this reported survey.

Xbox Game Pass is home to hundreds of first- and third-party games, for as little as $10 a month. Picture: Xbox Game Studios

According to the screenshot, the ad-supported plan would cost €3 (~AU$5) a month, about half of what the cheapest Game Pass plan currently available costs. It would also include online play, much like Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate currently do.

There are some major drawbacks to the proposed plan, however. Firstly, it would require subscribers to watch ads before launching a game on the service, which could be frustrating to some players.

It would also delay first-party games for subscribers for six months, compared to the day one access afforded to current Game Pass subscribers. As it stands, all Microsoft-published games, as well as a host of other third-party titles, are available on the subscription service as soon as they are released.

Game Pass is a game subscription service often called “the Netflix of video games” for Xbox consoles and Windows PCs. It allows players to pay a monthly subscription fee and gain access to hundreds of first- and third-party titles, with more titles added every single week.

Players who subscribe to this proposed new tier would have to wait six months to access new releases at no extra cost. Picture: Bethesda Softworks

The service currently has three “branches”: Xbox Game Pass, which gives access to the service on Xbox consoles, PC Game Pass, which is the same but for PC, and Game Pass Ultimate, which combines both Xbox and PC Game Pass, as well as a few other perks like Xbox Live Gold.

It comes at a time where Xbox games are already getting more expensive, as revealed by Microsoft earlier this month. The company said it would be raising its prices on first-party games by 15%, saying that the price bump is due to the increasing complexity and development costs of games.

It’s not the only one feeling the pinch, either, as Sony announced its PlayStation 5 is getting more expensive earlier this year. PS5 models increased in price by $50 in Australia, as well as most other regions by an equivalent amount. The North American pricing was unaffected.

Written by Oliver Brandt on behalf of GLHF.