Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Is Still Missing One Key Feature Every Subscription Service Should Have

screenrant.com:

Not long ago, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate was the best value in gaming, and while the monthly price hike is an obvious problem, the bigger misstep is the absence of a cheaper annual subscription option. A month of Game Pass Ultimate is $20 USD, and a month of PlayStation Plus Premium, Sony’s top-tier gaming subscription plan, is $18. These are negligible differences, but unlike Game Pass, PlayStation Plus still offers annual rates. Yearly plans save over monthly subscriptions, and they put less pressure on both the company, and the consumer, to make the most of the service each month.

While 2025 is looking promising for Game Pass, with Obsidian’s Xbox console-exclusive RPG coming to the service in February, dedicated genre fans will complete Avowed within a month. This leaves eleven months of Game Pass Ultimate needing to justify the $20 asking price. If a PlayStation Plus subscriber picked up a year during one of the promotional periods where the annual rates were discounted, their effective monthly cost is much lower. This saves the consumer money and lets them view the service holistically throughout the year. The $20 monthly Game Pass Ultimate cost creates an ongoing value argument.

Features like Game Pass supporting streaming one’s library, including games not currently on the service, are nice perks, but Xbox already has an app to stream from a console to a mobile device. If Game Pass Ultimate was still competitively priced, as when fans could stack up a year of Games With Gold for $60 and then convert it to Game Pass Ultimate for $1, small features like this might be better received. As it stands, the asking price is high enough that most gaming fans cannot simply ignore it,putting Game Pass under constant demand to prove its worth.

For fans who own multiple current-gen consoles, locking into a year of PS Plus during a peak sale is an obvious value.

Many 2025 games will hit Game Pass’s lineup this year, but unlike PS Plus, subscribers are not compelled to view