For several years, Xbox has stood out with one of the best offers in the industry; access to a whole month of Game Pass for just $1. This trial offer by Microsoft that let gamers play Xbox titles on their console or PC was a fantastic introduction to the service and a generous sample to play a bunch of new releases.
Sadly, it is no longer going to be a thing. According to a post by The Verge, Microsoft is moving on from this offering.
Kari Perez, Xbox Head of Global Communications, said, “We have stopped our previous introductory offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass and are evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future.”
Seven-day trial offers before monthly payments are standard for the business of subscriptions. The biggest appeal to Game Pass was that the offer went beyond a single month, providing players the time necessary to test out a bunch of games or immerse themselves in a single title.
Game Pass made it possible to finally play Halo 5: Guardians on PC, for instance. Not just the Forge mode that’s available on the Microsoft App Store.
The reason behind this decision doesn’t make much sense at face value. As of January 2022, the service has grown to 25 million subscribers. But a decent guess could claim that new members are not catching on fast enough.
Game bundle subscription services are highly competitive, and many have fallen by the wayside recently. Just last year, Google announced it was completely shutting down Stadia.
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass began in June 2017 and quickly saw the introduction of the $1 Trial Subscription. Later in 2019, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bundled Game Pass PC and console libraries with an Xbox Live Gold membership for $14.99 a month.