Highlights
- Xbox Game Pass has dropped the discounted $1 offer for first-time subscribers, disappointing those hoping to take advantage for the upcoming launch of Starfield.
- Subscribers can still benefit from the regular Game Pass pricing, which is an attractive deal considering the $70 launch price of Starfield.
- Microsoft's decision to remove the $1 deal may indicate its increased confidence in the value of Game Pass, with more first-party titles to come.
Xbox Game Pass offered a hefty discount for first time subscribers that has now been dropped ahead of the upcoming launch of Starfield. This will be disappointing news for those gamers out there who were hoping to take advantage of the discount to play what is likely the biggest day-one Game Pass game for 2023.
One might have hoped to take advantage of the hefty discount as close to the Starfield launch date as possible to get the most possible mileage out of it as this would have granted an entire month of access to the game for a fraction of the $70 launch price. This would also give the player access to the burgeoning library of other games should Starfield not click and possibly even give them a chance to try out some other exciting day one Game Pass games arriving in September, like Payday 3, Lies of P, and Party Animals.
Microsoft has removed the deal that allowed gamers to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass and get their first month for only $1, a deal that many gamers may have been holding out on for the launch of Starfield. New subscribers will now have to pay the full $9.99 or $10.99 for PC and console respectively, or $16.99 for Game Pass Ultimate which applies for both PC and consoles. The regular Game Pass pricing still is an attractive deal considering the $70 launch price tag of Starfield, but considering the scale of the game, one might easily end up playing it over the course of a few months or even longer and end up paying more than $70 in that time.
The removal of the $1 deal is likely not purely because of the Starfield launch. Microsoft seems to be more confident in the value of Game Pass going forward, with one executive saying that Starfield marks the start of a "relay race" of first-party titles. That said, even without the $1 deal some gamers might be tempted to subscribe for a month to try out Starfield rather than dropping an entire $70 if they are uncertain that they will enjoy the game.
Many gamers out there might simply shrug at this news since they have already used their $1 deal on one of the great Game Pass games that came out earlier this year, with one example being Tango Gameworks' surprise rhythm based hack and slash hit Hi-Fi Rush.