Last year, when Microsoft announced that the price of PC Game Pass was going to rise for the second time in twelve months, effectively going up by more than 70% in just over a year, I cancelled my subscription. I laid out my rationale in a post here on the website (click or tap here to read it, if you’re interested!) and I said at that time that I would consider returning to the service if it was going to be priced fairly. Recently, Microsoft has announced that the price of Game Pass will fall – not back to where it was, but certainly a significant cut from last year’s excessive and unnecessary price hike, proving wrong the folks who said that “corporations don’t care what you think,” or that “voting with your wallet can’t change anything!”
Don’t get me wrong: I’m glad to see this price cut. And I still believe, despite what we’re going to discuss today, that a good, fairly-priced subscription model probably represents the future of gaming as a medium. An Xbox Series S console with a Game Pass subscription has once again become my go-to when I’m asked for the best way to get started with modern gaming, especially on a budget.
But, at least right now… I don’t feel like I personally miss Game Pass too terribly – and despite the price cut, I haven’t been tempted back.
For some context, I became a subscriber to the PC version of Game Pass back when it was in beta, and I remained a subscriber for more than five years. In that time, Game Pass introduced me to some wonderful games, including titles I’d never have thought to try for myself if I had to pay full price. Two of those titles – Little Kitty, Big City and South of Midnight – were even named my “games of the year” in 2024 and 2025 respectively. So it’s fair to say that Game Pass had an impact on me, and gave me access to a library of titles, some of which I found to be incredibly fun.
Moreover, it was a blast to be able to *try* games without the fear of wasting a lot of money. I dabbled in a few titles I’d never have chanced spending money on… and I bounced off some of them hard! Firing up the app and scrolling through new games, newly-added games, and classics from years gone by felt like a lot of fun, too, and just choosing what to play was part of the experience. I was never a Game Pass “hater,” and it really was with a profound sense of regret that I felt the service had become unaffordable. Moreover, I wanted to make my voice heard – in whatever minuscule way I could – and tell Microsoft that that kind of exploitative price hiking just isn’t okay.
After I cancelled Game Pass, I bought a couple of titles that were either already part of Game Pass or that have been subsequently added to it. And during last winter’s Steam sale, I picked up a couple of others, too. This year, I’ve also purchased a couple of new games that are part of Game Pass – and I haven’t worked my way through all of those titles, yet!
In short, while there are games on Game Pass right now that I don’t own and would like to play – titles like Forza Horizon 6, for example, The Alters, or Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – I don’t feel a desperate need to jump in again… at least, not as things stand. I haven’t been playing as many games over the past few months, but I’ve picked up a couple of titles that I’d been really looking forward to, like Mixtape and inKonbini: One Store, Many Stories, and I still have games from last year, like Empire of the Ants, that I’m yet to get around to. Until I get some way into clearing that backlog… why do I need Game Pass, again?
I took the roughly £160 that I would’ve spent on Game Pass after last year’s price hike and put some of that money towards games like Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, which is a title I thoroughly enjoyed and still dip into. But now that the price of Game Pass has come down, well… I still own those other games. Some of them are sitting in my library, waiting to be played (and hopefully also reviewed here on the website!), and because of that, I just don’t feel like making that monthly commitment right now. If I were to buy every single game I wanted, every year, it would undoubtedly add up to more than a Game Pass subscription at the current price, which is a pretty big argument in favour of the service. But having stepped out of that “ecosystem,” to use some corpo-speak, after more than five years inside of it… I don’t really feel compelled to rejoin.
I think a lot of players – especially on PC, thanks to the abundance of discounts and cheaper titles – have a backlog of games. My Steam library has over 225 games in it at time of writing, and I haven’t played all of them by any stretch! There are games I bought on sale, intending to play later. Games I started but didn’t finish for one reason or another. And even a few brand-new titles that I want to play and review but I just haven’t found the time to do so yet. With such an extensive collection – and even more titles over on Epic Games, some of which were totally free – I guess I just feel like I’ve got most of what I want, at least for now. By pushing me away from Game Pass, Microsoft has pretty much lost me as a customer for the foreseeable future. And that’s despite my having been an active and pretty vocal supporter of the subscription in the past.
There are titles on Game Pass now, like Forza Horizon 6, and that will come to Game Pass in the near future, like Clockwork Revolution and possibly Fable, that have definitely piqued my curiosity and that I’d like to try for myself. But every game I can think in those categories has a replacement – a game I already own on Steam or Epic (or even on my Nintendo Switch) that I could play instead. And with a backlog that’s only grown over the last few years, I think I’d rather work my way through some of those rather than make an expensive commitment to Game Pass.
Because despite the recent price cut, taking it from £13.49 a month here in the UK down to £10.99 a month for the PC version, Game Pass is still more expensive than it was a year ago, a *lot* more expensive than it was a couple of years ago… and as much fun as Forza Horizon 6 might be, I can get a similar kind of racing experience elsewhere. Having paid £60 for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, I’d rather spend more time playing that at the moment – even though they aren’t directly comparable games in a lot of other ways!
I thought long and hard about the title of this piece, because despite how I feel right now, I did enjoy the freedom Game Pass gave me when I was subscribing to it. And I maintain that, even at its current price, it’s a relatively good value offering, especially on the lower tiers, and an easy recommendation to anyone getting started with current-gen gaming. Since the price was cut, I’ve been less reluctant to recommend Game Pass to folks in that position.
But for me… I’ve spent years accruing a backlog of games on Steam and Epic, and I think it makes more sense right now – especially given the state of things here in the UK and around the world – not to add another subscription and monthly commitment. Without spending a penny, I could play a new-to-me game every single day from now until the first part of 2027! So… I think that’s what I’m gonna do. Not literally, of course! I don’t have that much time or energy for gaming, these days, unfortunately. But when I am in the mood to play, I’m gonna fire up a title I’ve already bought on Steam, and set Game Pass aside for the rest of 2026. Perhaps, if the service continues to improve, add new titles, and maybe even offer some kind of extra discount… I’ll reconsider at some point.
I hope this has been interesting. After Microsoft announced the price reduction, I did think about whether or not I wanted to jump back in. And I wanted to write up how I’ve been feeling as a kind of addendum to my piece last year, when I discussed my reasons for cancelling. Having specifically said, back then, that I’d reconsider if the price came down, I thought it would only be fair to lay out the reasons why I’ve opted *not* to rejoin the service at this time.
And hey, if reviews of games like Mixtape and inKonbini sound like something you’re interested in, stay tuned! I’d love to get around to one or both of those games this month or next.
Thanks for reading. I hope this made sense and didn’t come across as a silly stream-of-consciousness waffle! Have fun out there… and, whether you’re a Game Pass subscriber or not, happy gaming!
The Game Pass subscription service is available now for players on PC and Xbox game consoles. All titles discussed above are the copyright of their respective developer, publisher, and/or studio. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.
Trekking with Dennis 