Xbox Game Pass changed shape twice in quick succession. In October 2025 Microsoft split it into Essential, Premium and Ultimate and raised the top price sharply. In April 2026 it cut Ultimate back down, from US$29.99 to US$22.99 a month, and stopped putting new Call of Duty games in on launch day. Then, in September 2026, it announced monthly hour limits on cloud gaming from November. This review sets out what each plan now gives you, what it costs in sterling, dollars and euros, and who should pay for which. For the wider picture, see our gaming hub.
Xbox Game Pass deal: Essential for US$1 for the first month
- Offer: Game Pass Essential for US$1 (£0.75 / €0.89) for the first month in the US; Premium for US$1 for the first 14 days
- Promo Code: No Promo Code needed; the introductory price is applied at checkout
- Who qualifies: new members, where Microsoft is running the offer; a credit card is required
- Key terms: renews at the regular monthly price unless cancelled; Ultimate and PC Game Pass carry no introductory offer
| Offer detail | What you get |
|---|---|
| Promo Code | No Promo Code needed |
| Welcome offer | Game Pass Essential for US$1 for the first month, or Premium for US$1 for the first 14 days (US) |
| Who qualifies | New Game Pass members in markets where the offer runs; credit card needed; offers vary by region |
| Key terms | Renews at US$9.99 (Essential) or US$14.99 (Premium) a month; cancel before the next billing date to avoid a charge; Microsoft allows a refund within 30 days of the initial purchase |
| How to claim | Open the Game Pass page on xbox.com, pick Essential or Premium, sign in with a Microsoft account and pay |
Xbox Game Pass: key facts
- Official website: xbox.com
- Owner: Microsoft Corporation (Xbox)
- Headquarters: Redmond, Washington, US
- Founded: 2017 (Game Pass launch)
- Ratings: App Store 4.6 (278K ratings, UK App Store, Xbox app); Google Play 4.5 (2.3M reviews, Google Play, Xbox app); Trustpilot 1.4 (1,454 reviews, xbox.com)
- Headline offer: Game Pass Essential for US$1 for the first month, or Premium for US$1 for 14 days (US, new members)
- Promo Code: No Promo Code needed
- Price from: £6.99 / US$9.99 / €8.99 a month (Essential); Ultimate £16.99 / US$22.99 / €20.99
- Free plan or trial: No free plan; US introductory offers on Essential and Premium
- Payment methods: Credit or debit card, Xbox gift card / Microsoft account balance
- Best features: Day-one releases on Ultimate and PC Game Pass; EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew in Ultimate; Plays on console, PC, phone, TV and browser (cloud 5/10/15 hours a month from November 2026)
Xbox Game Pass at a glance
- Price from: £6.99 / US$9.99 / €8.99 a month (Essential)
- Top plan: Ultimate at £16.99 / US$22.99 / €20.99 a month
- Library: 50+ games (Essential), 200+ (Premium), 500+ (Ultimate), 300+ (PC Game Pass)
- Day-one releases: Ultimate and PC Game Pass only
- Cloud gaming: 5, 10 or 15 hours a month on Essential, Premium and Ultimate from November 2026; not included with PC Game Pass
- Devices: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows PC, phones, tablets, selected smart TVs, Fire TV, Meta Quest and browsers
- App rating: Xbox app 4.6/5 from 278K ratings (UK App Store); 4.5/5 on Google Play
What Xbox Game Pass is, and who owns it
Game Pass is Microsoft’s games subscription, launched in 2017 and run by the Xbox division from Redmond, Washington. Pay a monthly fee and you can download and play any game in the library for as long as you subscribe. Higher plans add online multiplayer on console, new releases on the day they launch, partner catalogues such as EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics, and streaming through Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Since Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard in 2023, the library has included Call of Duty. That arrangement changed in April 2026: future Call of Duty games will reach Ultimate and PC Game Pass roughly a year after launch, while titles already in the library stay.
Xbox Game Pass prices: every plan explained
Microsoft sets local prices in each market, so these are the official monthly figures rather than currency conversions.
| Plan | UK | US | Eurozone | What you get |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | £6.99 | US$9.99 | €8.99 | 50+ games, online console multiplayer, 5 cloud hours, in-game benefits |
| Premium | £10.99 | US$14.99 | €12.99 | 200+ games, new Xbox-published games within a year of launch, 10 cloud hours |
| Ultimate | £16.99 | US$22.99 | €20.99 | 500+ games, day-one releases, EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew, 15 cloud hours |
| PC Game Pass | £10.99 | US$13.99 | €12.99 | 300+ PC games, day-one releases, EA Play; no cloud gaming |
Regional differences. At our exchange rate, US$22.99 is about £17.25 and €20.47, so UK and eurozone buyers pay roughly the same as Americans for Ultimate, with one difference: UK and European prices include VAT, while US prices are shown before sales tax. PC Game Pass is relatively dearer in Britain, where it matches Premium at £10.99.
Essential is the entry ticket for console owners who mainly want online multiplayer, with a small library Microsoft refreshes every few months.
Premium is the middle plan. It gets Xbox’s own games, but not on launch day: they arrive within a year.
Ultimate is the full package and the only console plan with day-one releases. Microsoft’s own example for October 2026 includes Valor Mortis, Echo Weaver and Bluey’s Happy Snaps on launch day, with Gears of War: E-Day and Battlefield 6 also in the library.
PC Game Pass covers PC only, includes EA Play and day-one games, but has no console multiplayer, no Ubisoft+ Classics and no cloud streaming.
There is no annual plan and no family plan sold direct. If you switch from Essential or Premium to Ultimate, Microsoft converts remaining time at a set ratio, and those conversions are final.
Free trials and official discounts
Game Pass has no permanent free trial. The current route in is the introductory offer in the US: Essential at US$1 for the first month, or Premium at US$1 for 14 days. Microsoft’s subscription terms say such offers may be limited to new members, may need a credit card and renew at the regular price.
Two other savings are worth knowing. Ultimate includes EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics, which you would otherwise pay for separately; Sony values Ubisoft+ Classics at £6.99 (US$7.99) a month on its own PlayStation Plus page. And Microsoft Rewards points earned through Game Pass (base, 2x or 4x depending on plan) can be redeemed against Microsoft purchases.
We do not list Promo Codes from voucher sites: Microsoft does not publish any for Game Pass.
A worked example: what you really pay
Take a couple in Manchester with an Xbox Series S who buy three new releases a year at around £70 each, roughly £210.
- Ultimate for 12 months costs £203.88 (US$271.69 / €241.94).
- Premium for 12 months costs £131.88, but they would wait up to a year for Xbox’s own games and get no third-party launches.
- Essential for 12 months costs £83.88, enough for online play and a small catalogue.
On Ultimate they would spend a little less than buying three games and get hundreds more. The catch is ownership: stop paying and the games go. Microsoft also rotates titles out; on 15 October 2026, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Pacific Drive all left the service.
Game library highlights and catalogue churn
The library is the reason to subscribe. Ultimate covers Xbox’s first-party output on day one, from Halo and Forza to Minecraft spin-offs such as Minecraft Dungeons II, alongside third-party launches. October 2026 alone added Battlefield 6, Valor Mortis, Forever Ago, Chained Beasts and Neon Abyss 2.
Microsoft announces new arrivals in waves on Xbox Wire, and the same posts list the games about to leave, usually a week or two ahead. If a favourite is on the list, that is your cue to finish it or buy it.
Cloud gaming: the new hour limits and what your connection needs
From November 2026, Xbox Cloud Gaming moves from unlimited to monthly allowances: 5 hours on Essential, 10 on Premium and 15 on Ultimate. Extra hours will be sold through the Xbox Store, with prices still to be confirmed. Microsoft says about 4% of Game Pass members will be affected, and that anyone will be able to buy cloud hours to stream games they own, even without a subscription.
The connection guidance is a minimum of 10Mbps, with 20Mbps recommended for the best picture on consoles, PCs and tablets.
The commuter test. A nurse in Leeds who streams for 40 minutes each way on her phone over 5G, five days a week, plays about 28 hours a month. Under the new limits that is nearly double the Ultimate allowance. At 20Mbps she would also use around 9GB an hour of mobile data, so an unlimited data plan matters. For a heavy cloud player, GeForce NOW, with 100 hours a month, now looks the better fit.
Devices supported
- Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One (download and cloud)
- Windows PCs via the Xbox app
- Phones and tablets, selected smart TVs, Amazon Fire TV, selected Meta Quest headsets and supported browsers, via the cloud
- The Xbox mobile app for browsing the library, queueing downloads and installing games remotely on your console
The family test. Microsoft no longer sells a family plan, but a single subscription can cover a household console. Set the console as your home Xbox and other profiles on it can play the Game Pass library, so two children sharing one Series S do not each need a plan.
How to subscribe and cancel
- Go to the Game Pass page on xbox.com, or the Store on your console.
- Choose a plan and sign in with your Microsoft account.
- Pay by card or another method offered in your market.
- Download games on console or PC, or press play on a cloud-enabled title.
- To cancel, go to account.microsoft.com/services, or turn off recurring billing on your console, before the next billing date.
Microsoft’s terms allow a refund within 30 days of the initial purchase if you cancel, unless an offer says otherwise. Prices can rise with at least 30 days’ notice.
App ratings and customer service
The Xbox app scores 4.6 out of 5 from 278K ratings on the UK App Store and 4.5 from more than two million reviews on Google Play. Support runs through support.xbox.com, with help articles, a virtual agent and contact options for account and billing problems.
What users say
On Trustpilot, Xbox scores 1.4 out of 5 from 1,454 reviews, a profile Microsoft has not invited customers to, so it skews towards complaints. The recurring themes are price rises, frustration with the coming cloud caps, trouble reaching a human support agent and refund requests that went nowhere. The positive reviews mostly praise the value of the library for families. Players’ views in app stores are kinder, reflecting day-to-day use rather than billing disputes.
Pros and cons
Pros
- Day-one access to Xbox games and selected third-party launches on Ultimate
- EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew bundled into Ultimate
- Ultimate is cheaper than it was after the April 2026 price cut
- Plays across console, PC, phone, TV and browser
- One subscription covers the household on a home Xbox
Cons
- Cloud gaming capped at 15 hours a month on Ultimate from November 2026
- New Call of Duty games no longer arrive on launch day
- No annual or family plan sold direct
- Games leave regularly, including recent hits
- Weak support reputation on Trustpilot
Xbox Game Pass vs PlayStation Plus vs the rest
| Xbox Game Pass | PlayStation Plus | Nintendo Switch Online | GeForce NOW | Apple Arcade | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheapest plan (UK) | £6.99 a month | £7.99 a month, £59.99 a year | £3.49 a month, £17.99 a year | Free tier | £6.99 a month, £49.99 a year |
| Top plan (UK) | £16.99 a month | £14.99 a month, £119.99 a year | £34.99 a year | Ultimate, US$19.99 a month | Apple One from £18.95 a month |
| Day-one releases | Yes, Ultimate | Some, Extra and Premium | No | Bring your own games | New Arcade games |
| Cloud streaming | 5 to 15 hours a month | Premium, PS5 games | No | Yes, 100 hours a month | No |
| Family sharing | Home Xbox | Console sharing on PS5 | Family plan, 8 accounts | No | Up to 5 others |
Our PlayStation Plus review covers Sony’s alternative in detail, and Nintendo Switch Online is the cheap option for Switch households.
Also worth comparing: EA Play, already inside Ultimate and PC Game Pass; Ubisoft+, whose Classics tier Ultimate includes; Humble Choice for PC players who prefer to keep their games; and the cloud services Amazon Luna and Boosteroid.
Xbox Game Pass FAQs
Is Game Pass worth it?
For anyone who plays more than three or four new games a year on Xbox or PC, Ultimate at £16.99 a month usually costs less than buying them. If you play one game for months, buy it instead.
What is the difference between Game Pass Ultimate and Premium?
Ultimate gets day-one releases, 500+ games, EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew and 15 cloud hours. Premium has 200+ games, gets Xbox-published games within a year of launch and 10 cloud hours.
Is there a Game Pass free trial?
Not a free one. In the US, new members can get Essential for US$1 for the first month or Premium for US$1 for 14 days.
Is there a Game Pass promo code?
No Promo Code is needed. The saving is the introductory offer and the partner services bundled into Ultimate.
How many hours of cloud gaming do you get with Game Pass?
From November 2026: 5 hours a month on Essential, 10 on Premium and 15 on Ultimate, with extra hours sold separately. PC Game Pass has none.
What internet speed do I need for Xbox Cloud Gaming?
At least 10Mbps, with 20Mbps recommended.
Is Call of Duty on Game Pass on day one?
Not any more. From April 2026, new Call of Duty games arrive about a year after launch.
How do I cancel Game Pass and get a refund?
Cancel at account.microsoft.com/services or on your console before the next billing date. Microsoft allows a refund within 30 days of the initial purchase.
Can my family share one Game Pass subscription?
On console, yes: other profiles on your home Xbox can play the Game Pass library.
Do I need a VPN for Game Pass abroad?
No. Game Pass works on your account wherever the service is available. A VPN, such as those in our NordVPN review, is useful on hotel Wi-Fi, but it can add latency to cloud play.
Verdict
Game Pass Ultimate is good value again after the April price cut, and nothing else gives Xbox and PC players so many new games on launch day. The cloud caps arriving in November are the real setback: the service that once let you play on a train without a console is now best treated as a download library with a streaming extra. Buy Ultimate if you try lots of new releases; choose Essential if you only want online play; and if streaming on the move is the point, look at GeForce NOW and a decent travel eSIM instead.
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