Microsoft hikes Game Pass price; GameStop won’t

Last week, subscribers of Microsoft’s Game Pass were in an uproar over the company’s plans to hike the price from $19.99 per month to $29.99.

One of the most surprising reactions, however, came not from gamers but from retail partner GameStop. While you’ll pay $30 per month if you sign up for Game Pass Ultimate directly with Microsoft, you’ll get the same old price—for some indefinite period—if you stick with GameStop. “Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still $19.99 a month with us. You’re welcome,” the retailer wrote in a social media post.

Gamers can subscribe to Game Pass directly from their XBox, via their PC, and on the web. GameStop’s lower-priced codes can be redeemed with the retailer online. 

Game Pass Ultimate is the preferred subscription plan for core gamers. It offers day-one access to new first-party games like Call of Duty, as well as the entirety of an older game catalog, access to Ubisoft+ classics, and a subscription to Fortnite Crew.

While $30 per month isn’t so bad, the price increase will saddle Microsoft’s biggest fans with the bulk of the cost, essentially penalizing them for supporting the platform. By appealing squarely to those customers, GameStop could regain some of its relevancy with gamers.

It could also lose some goodwill with Microsoft.

Microsoft’s gaming division is putting all of its eggs in the Game Pass basket. By undercutting the subscription price, GameStop could be cutting into the company’s bottom line.

Alternatively, GameStop could be cutting into its own profit margin on Game Pass gift cards. The pas de deux between retailers and publishers is a complex, constantly evolving one. Microsoft, after all, could stop issuing the cards with the $19.99 price tag on them at any time, but so far has not.

While a favorite of the meme stock crowd, GameStop has squandered much of its reputation with players. 

For years, it was the go-to place for new releases and made millions on the sale of used games, which at one point accounted for roughly half of its gross profits. But as digital distribution became the norm in the video game world, there was less reason for gamers to visit GameStop. Midnight releases of highly anticipated games became rare events. As gamers shifted to digital, there were fewer physical versions of games to trade in, cutting into used-game revenues.

Beyond thumbing its nose at Microsoft with the continued $20 gift cards for Game Pass, GameStop took another swing at the concept of virtual ownership, underlining that when you have a physical copy of the game, it’s yours for as long as you have the disc. “Game Pass: $29.99 every month. Own nothing. GameStop: Buy once. Own forever. Math isn’t that hard,” it wrote.

GameStop, it’s worth noting, isn’t alone in towing the line on the previous Game Pass Ultimate price. Both Amazon and Target are still selling one- and three-month subscription gift cards at the older rate.

Neither of those retailers is quite so publicly poking the bear, however. Then again, neither faces the extinction-level threat that GameStop is.

A year ago, Michael Pachter of Wedbush sent a note to investors saying he expected the company to be gone entirely by 2030.

“GameStop has a likely runway of no more than five years,” he wrote. “The demise of GameStop is outside the 12-month window we use for our price target, but we expect the company’s demise at some point later this decade.”

GameStop shares were flat Monday, closing at around $25.05. Year to date, the company’s stock is down 18%. It is, however, still considerably higher than the $3 to $4 range it traded at before the meme stock traders began to focus on it.