Xbox Breaks Silence On Rumors Of Game Pass Stripping Day One Games

During its first few years of existence, Xbox Game Pass was often referred to as the best deal in gaming, but Microsoft has been chipping away at the service’s benefits. First, the company decided to no longer offer new entries in the Call of Duty franchise on day one, and the cloud streaming perk was recently downgraded as well. A new rumor suggests more changes are coming, and subscribers likely won’t be happy with the potential changes.

The scuttlebutt popped up on the gaming forum ResetEra, which is where gaming leaks often appear. According to a well known user there, significant changes are coming in 2027, with the biggest one being that “new games no longer release day 1 on GamePass.” The price of the service will be reduced to $19.99 a month to reflect the loss of day one availability of new titles, however, and an ad-supported tier costing $12.99 a month may be coming.

Other changes include the introduction of a family plan that tacks on an extra $5.99 a month, and a new plan that offers online multiplayer and access to the Game Pass library for $14.99 a month. Moreover, a tier offering only online play will be available at $10.99 a month.


Current customers who do a lot of game streaming will be disheartened to hear that cloud streaming access will stop being an included benefit; this feature will reportedly require an extra $5.99 a month for 25 hours of game streaming.

Microsoft has addressed these rumors in a statement to Forbes, saying that “we regularly test different Game Pass offerings and look at what works best for players in different markets. We don’t have any changes to announce today or plans that have been finalized. There are no changes to previously announced games coming to Game Pass Ultimate on day one.”

While fans of the service would probably like to see a more concrete commitment to day one access for new games, it’s not surprising to see this response from Microsoft. The company has already undergone a lot of changes with Asha Sharma at the helm of the Xbox gaming division, and more adjustments are likely coming. Hopefully Game Pass isn’t completely nerfed and remains a solid value.