Xbox Game Pass could be getting an ad-supported cheaper tier

XBOX has been giving hints that it is changing the way its subscription service Xbox Game Pass will work, including a new cheaper tier.

Over the weekend rumours arose that Xbox Game Pass would be raising its price sometime in the new year.

These rumours follow comments from the Head of Xbox Gaming, Phil Spencer, that the console and service won’t hold their price forever.

He explained: “Going into this holiday, we thought it was really important that we maintain the prices that we have.

“We’ve held [the] price on our console, we’ve held [the] price on games for us and our subscription. 

“I don’t think we’ll be able to do that forever.”

However, Xbox has long been the budget-friendly option for gamers, and a rise in the price of Game Pass would be a blow to the community.

It seems to negate this fact Xbox is considering a new cheaper tier that will be supported by ads.

Spanish language players have reported that Microsoft sent out a survey asking about potential subscription plans.

The survey reportedly asked users about two hypothetical subscription plans.

The first was a family plan that offers access to Game Pass benefits to multiple people and consoles.

The second was a cheaper, ad-supported plan that would still come with most, but not all, of Game Pass’ benefits. 

The family plan is already being trialled by Microsoft, and has been implemented in two countries since September.

The ad-supported plan has not been officially announced, but screenshots show that it could cost as little as £3.

The catch is that players would have to watch a series of adverts each time they launch a game on the service.

Microsoft has recently filed a patent for displaying personalised ads in video games.

The plan also suggests that subscribers would have to wait six months to play first-party games, compared to Xbox’s usual day-one access.

Written by Oliver Brandt and Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.