Starfield is Microsoft’s perfect excuse to up the price of Xbox Game Pass
Xbox Game Pass has been the best deal in gaming since its launch in 2017, but increased development and production costs may indicate that a price hike is on the horizon.
For players without the budget or desire to fork out £59.99 / $69.99 / AU$100 a pop for each new AAA release, Xbox Game Pass is an absolute lifesaver. Paying one relatively low subscription fee and gaining access to literally hundreds of downloadable games, including every new Xbox first-party title on day one? It’s a much more palatable prospect. The problem is it’s been years since Xbox was able to treat gamers to a true blockbuster that’s the scale of, say, a Halo Infinite or Gears of War. An endless supply of smaller experiences and indie titles is great, but not really the reason to buy a 4K-ready console.
Admittedly, 2023 is the year when this slow drip of first-party exclusives may end, with Xbox lifting the lid on five of its most exciting games via a January Developer Direct livestream. Rhythm-based action title Hi-Fi Rush caught headlines by shadow dropping immediately (and actually being good). The likes of Redfall, Forza Motorsport and Minecraft Legends, meanwhile, all showed promise in the new snippets of gameplay shown. One title we were yet to get an update on was Starfield, Bethesda Software’s big-budget action RPG set in space, which is easily Xbox’s most anticipated game this year.
If Starfield really is to sci-fi what Skyrim is to the fantasy genre, then there’s every chance Xbox may have its biggest hit yet. At least since the Xbox Series X|S console generation began. That’s why there’s now a better chance that, with rival PlayStation upping the cost of its consoles and Nintendo experimenting with premium game prices, Xbox could use Starfield as an excuse to follow suit – further milking the Xbox Game Pass cow.
Starfield remains front and centre in Microsoft's 2023 release schedule for Xbox Game PassFor what it’s worth, I’m someone who fully expects Starfield to launch in a similar unpolished state to previous tentpole Bethesda titles. The poor character models and lifeless face animations of NPCs shown off so far would indicate as such. Yet for some reason it’s an Xbox exclusive that a lot of people are immensely excited for; maybe the idea of exploring a galaxy with “over 100 systems” and “over 1,000 planets” as one trailer teases will simply prove too tempting? It’s almost like the age-old adage of ‘quality over quantity’ has gone out of the window with this one. But I digress…
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The truth is that if Starfield ends up even being half as good as Xbox and Bethesda are advertising it as, the game’s inherent bugginess won’t matter. The hype cycle has ensured it’ll still shoot up the top of the Xbox Game Pass charts to become one of the fastest, most-played titles to ever appear on the service. £7.99 / $9.99 / AU$10.95 to try it out for a month is a lot easier on the wallet than if players were to pay full price, after all. In this way Starfield is the ticket the platform-holder needs to up the price of Xbox Game Pass.
The increased cost of energy around the world has affected all industries, including gaming. That’s why, from a general perspective, it’s been hard to argue with most of the gradual changes all three platform-holders have made so far to account for it. Outside of Microsoft laying off roughly 10,000 at the start of this year (including a fifth of 343 Studios’ workforce) Xbox hasn’t passed the cost onto the consumer. But it knows the power of Game Pass, and the respect the subscription service has garnered with members over the years.
It wouldn’t be the first time Microsoft has attempted to up the price for one of its Xbox services. As early as 2021, the company announced plans to increase the cost of Xbox Live Gold – its other subscription, needed to play games online – from $60 a year to $60 every six months. Xbox players quite rightly made their voices heard, and the intention was quickly reversed. Back then it didn’t have a heavy hitter like Starfield waiting in the wings to fall back on. The star-based RPG now changes things.
The best part of this potential plan? The sheer size and scope of Bethesda’s game would easily let Xbox justify the Game Pass price increase, yet subscribers are still likely to get a great deal. As of last January an estimated 25 million players pay monthly (via VGC) to use the service. That means, even if Xbox Game Pass went up by just a dollar or two, the company would still enjoy a significantly large extra injection of cash it could use to stave off increasing development costs and give itself more breathing room.
All this isn’t to say that I’d like to pay more money for Xbox Game Pass; it might not even happen at all. It’s just hard to ignore the fact that it feels like Xbox has been keeping Starfield squarely in its pocket for a while now, which when considering the rising costs of energy and therefore game development, may potentially work in its favour.
The plan with Xbox Game Pass has clearly been to accept people in at a low price point, offer good value and then get them to rely on it to the point where it’s hard to refuse. Fortunately, at least if Xbox Game Pass’ price does increase, a trip to a glitch-ridden galaxy via Starfield may be enough to stave off the sting.
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