Xbox Price Hike and Yet Another Name Shuffle – What Are They Even Doing? -

Navigating Xbox’s subscription jungle has never been easy, and now they’ve decided to make it even more confusing by renaming their services once again. As if anyone asked for that.

And let’s talk about the price increase. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (yes, that’s still the name going forward, apparently) used to be 185 SEK per month. Soon it’ll be 285 SEK. That’s not a small bump – that’s a massive jump.

Here’s what Xbox announced for Sweden:

Essential: 95 SEK/month
Premium: 145 SEK/month
Ultimate: 285 SEK/month

The “new benefits” they highlight sound nice on paper:

A bigger library including PC titles
Unlimited cloud gaming
In-game perks (like Riot Games bonuses)
For Ultimate: more day-one titles, Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, better streaming (up to 1440p), shorter queue times

Sounds good, right? Except… none of this really makes me want to pay 285 SEK a month.

And I don’t think I’m alone here. For many gamers, PC is starting to look like the smarter choice.

Xbox has completely dropped the ball. There are barely any consoles available, and the ones that are on the shelves are ridiculously overpriced. If Xbox had kept their Series S around 3,000 SEK, that would’ve been a solid entry point. But now? You’re looking at close to 5,000 SEK, and what are you actually getting for that extra cash? Nothing.

At that price, you could easily grab a decent PC or laptop. And when you factor in the cost of Game Pass, the PC looks even better. Spend that 285 SEK per month on Steam instead and you’ll rack up plenty of solid games—especially during sales. Or just stick with free-to-play titles like League of Legends, Valorant, Delta Force, or World of Tanks.

Do the math: save your Game Pass subscription money for a year, and you’ve practically bought yourself a killer graphics card.

I honestly don’t know what Xbox’s long-term plan is here. They aren’t creating engagement, they aren’t building a community, and they certainly aren’t giving people a reason to choose Xbox over alternatives. Gaming has always thrived because it’s accessible—something everyone could enjoy together, whether you were a hardcore techie or a family playing casually.

Now? It’s starting to feel like gaming on Xbox is only for those with deep pockets. And let’s be real: what’s the point of being able to “play anywhere” if you can’t even afford to play at all?

Right now, Xbox’s future doesn’t look good. And honestly, I’m not sure what could turn this ship around.