From Layoffs to Price Hikes: Microsoft's Master Plan
Published on 2 October 2025
Microsoft's solution after firing thousands to 'cut costs'? Making you pay more. Let's take a look at the new Game Pass price hike, the blatant cash grab, and the transparently lazy justification behind it.
A double whammy this week for the gaming industry. Not even three months after Microsoft gutted its gaming division with a mass firing spree and cancellations to "cut costs," the next chapter of corporate bullshit has arrived right on schedule. As I covered in a lengthy post detailing the financial illusion of their strategy, the bill for their multi-billion-dollar shopping spree was always going to be passed on to someone. Now we know who.
Microsoft has announced another major price hike for its Game Pass service. Game Pass Ultimate is jumping from $19.99 to a staggering $29.99 per month in the US, and from £14.99 to £22.99 here in the UK. PC Game Pass also gets a significant bump, rising from $11.99 to $16.49 and £9.99 to £13.49.
But hey, they're being gentle with this first wave. They only increased the PC and Ultimate tiers! I'm sure this is just a one-off - I mean, a two-tier thing that will never eventually trickle down to the lower tiers. Of course not.
Their justifications for this are so low-effort it's almost insulting. How do you defend forcing customers to pay more? By slapping on a load of filler shit nobody asked for or wanted. The "new value" includes a subscription to Fortnite Crew and access to Ubisoft+ Classics.
What do the people who don't play Fortnite get from this deal? Absolutely nothing, except a higher bill. What about the players who have already played the decade-old titles in the Ubisoft+ Classics library? Nothing. It’s such a lazy, transparent attempt to bloat the offering that it’s not even worth a deep analysis. They're not even trying to hide the cash grab anymore.
✅ The Verdict
The Xbox division and Game Pass must be a bigger financial black hole for Microsoft than any of us thought. Even after the recent mass cost-cutting, they still needed to enact this price hike immediately. It screams desperation.
The gaming industry, at least among the major corporations, has been a particular shitshow this year, hasn't it? Between declining game quality and relentless corporate nonsense, it's becoming exhausting.
What's next, Microsoft? Gonna force that Gaming Copilot on all the plans and increase the prices again? Here’s a lazy justification you can use, from me to you, for free: Those 'AI' ain't cheap!