Players are still reeling from the recent Xbox Game Pass price increase (and what it means for day one game access), but Microsoft isn’t done yet: After Game Pass subscribers noticed the usual Game Pass discounts on many store purchases appeared to be missing, Xbox confirmed that discounts on games, DLC, and in-game currency are no longer a Game Pass perk (via IGN).
“This is not specific to any one game and reflects all games and DLC purchases. Instead of a discount on the purchases, Ultimate and Premium subscribers will earn 10% and 5% — respectively — in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library,” Microsoft explained in a statement to IGN. “Ultimate members continue to have 20% discount on select games from the Game Pass library. On top of that, all Rewards members will earn points when shopping games and add-ons on the Store, while Premium and Ultimate subscribers will earn even more, 2x and 4x respectively. See more detail on the Game Pass Rewards program here.”
So, for example, when purchasing COD Points, Call of Duty players will get Reward Points, but no discount on the COD Points themselves. But there’s a catch there, too: It appears that players can no longer save up reward points to exchange for a few months of free Game Pass, but it looks like Reward Points can no longer be used for that.
Between the recent Game Pass restructuring, the price hike for both Game Pass and Xbox consoles, and the removal of the Game Pass subscriber discount, Game Pass users are furious, and are canceling their subscriptions en masse. Shortly after the Game Pass price increase was announced, the website where subscribers can cancel their subscription temporarily crashed from all the traffic it received in the wake of the news.
