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Xbox Game Pass imposes monthly cloud gaming limits, just 15 hours per month for Ultimate — subscribers and non-subscribers can buy more hours to keep gaming Xbox Game Pass has been an alternative option for gamers who cannot afford the best graphics cards. However, Microsoft has changed the business model for its cloud gaming service. The company has decided to monetize actual gaming time. Beginning in November, Game Pass subscribers will have new monthly limits on their total cloud gaming playtime. Once they reach these limits, players will be prompted to purchase additional gaming hours from the Xbox Store to keep playing. Game Pass Essential, Premium, and Ultimate subscribers will face monthly cloud playtime limits of five, 10, and 15 hours, respectively. The changes affect only Xbox Cloud Gaming, a feature included with Xbox Game Pass that lets subscribers stream and play games directly from Microsoft's servers over the Internet. Subscribers can still download and install as many Xbox Game Pass titles as they want on their consoles or gaming systems, with no monthly limits on playtime. Needless to say, Microsoft's decision marks a drastic shift for Xbox Cloud Gaming, moving from an unlimited model to a capped-hour system. Under the current packages, Game Pass Essential, Premium, and Ultimate users pay $2, $1.50, and $1.53 per hour for Xbox Cloud Gaming, respectively. Despite announcing these changes, Microsoft has yet to disclose details regarding the pricing structure for additional playtime. A hardcore gamer who subscribes to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate could easily average around 50 hours of cloud gameplay per month. For example, if they pay the highest rate ($1.53) for 35 overage hours, an Xbox Series S 512GB ($499.99) would pay for itself in under 10 months. Alternatively, the user could break even on an Xbox Series X 1TB ($749.99) in about 14 months. These changes will significantly affect heavy cloud gamers who stream games regularly. Even the highest subscription tier, Game Pass Ultimate, now imposes a 15-hour monthly playtime cap. The limit is not even enough to complete one game per month. For instance, AAA titles such as Cyberpunk 2077 or Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 can take almost 30 hours to complete, even if you just stick to the main storyline. Xbox Game Pass Pricing The new policy introduces limits for frequent cloud gamers, but it also opens a new market for Microsoft: casual players who don't own a console or may not want to commit to a subscription but are willing to buy gaming hours to play select titles in the Xbox Game Pass library. Microsoft's decision ultimately transforms Xbox Cloud Gaming into an "à la carte" type of service where gamers buy cloud playtime hours as needed. Microsoft attributes its recent policy changes to the rising infrastructure costs associated with maintaining the cloud server network. The company estimated only about 4% of its subscribers will be directly impacted by the new playtime limits. Therefore, it is reasonable to think that the other 96% of the user base do not use Xbox Cloud Gaming or stay under the monthly hour thresholds. Get Tom's Hardware's best news and in-depth reviews, straight to your inbox. Over the past two years, Microsoft has implemented two price increases for Xbox Game Pass, with the most recent hike occurring in October of last year. Interestingly, despite the upward trend in pricing, the company made a surprising move by reducing the cost of Xbox Game Pass earlier this year. By shifting Xbox Cloud Gaming to a metered system, Microsoft may be trying to maintain profitability and subscriber retention. But nothing about the timing appears coincidental. Grand Theft Auto VI, arguably the most anticipated title of the decade, will launch on November 19. Microsoft’s new Xbox Cloud Gaming policy is set to take effect in the very same month. Microsoft is strategically positioning the subscription service to capitalize on the massive surge of interest. The company likely wants to attract users who do not own a console or gaming system because of the ridiculous pricing but still want to play Grand Theft Auto VI. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds. Zhiye Liu is a news editor, memory reviewer, and SSD tester at Tom’s Hardware. Although he loves everything that’s hardware, he has a soft spot for CPUs, GPUs, and RAM. - LordVile Honestly I don’t know who uses gamepass just for cloud gaming. It’s a nice to have if you’re away from home with time to kill but as a primary method it’s not a good value vs GeForce nowReply - sinnistar99 Reply No one knows who these people are. Gaming is a hobby, most hobbies have a cost. People say it's an expensive hobby but I can think of a lot more expensive ones. Most people that want to play Xbox games pass will have a PC or XboxLordVile said:Honestly I don’t know who uses gamepass just for cloud gaming. It’s a nice to have if you’re away from home with time to kill but as a primary method it’s not a good value vs GeForce now - usertests -2028Reply -wake up feeling sick after a late night of playing video games -excited to play some halo 2k29 -"xbox on" -... -"XBOX ON" -"Please verify that you are "annon332" by saying "Doritos™ Dew™ it right!" -"Doritos™ Dew™ it right" -"ERROR! Please drink a verification can" -reach into my Doritos™ Mountain Dew™ Halo 2k29™ War Chest -only a few cans left, needed to verify 14 times last night -still feeling sick from the 14 -force it down and grumble out "mmmm that really hit the spot" -xbox does nothing -i attempt to smile -"Connecting to verification server" -... -"Verification complete!" -finally -boot up halo 2k29 -finding multiplayer match... -"ERROR! User attempting to steal online gameplay!" -my mother just walked in the room -"Adding another user to your pass, this will be charged to your credit card. Do you accept?" -"NO!" -"Console entering lock state!" -"to unlock drink verification can" -last can -"WARNING, OUT OF VERIFICATION CANS, an order has been shipped and charged to your credit card" -drink half the can, oh god im going to be sick -pour the last half out the window -"PIRACY DETECTED! PLEASE COMPLETE THIS ADVERTISEMENT TO CONTINUE" -the mountain dew ad plays -i have to dance for it -feeling so sick -makes me sing along -dancing and singing -"mountain dew is for me and you" -throw up on my self -throw up on my tv and entertainment system -router shorts -"ERROR NO CONNECTION! XBOX SHUTTING OFF" -"PLEASE DRINK VERIFICATION CAN TO CONTINUE" - COLGeek Reply Reads like a 2600 article/letter. Well played, sir. Well played.usertests said:-2028 -wake up feeling sick after a late night of playing video games -excited to play some halo 2k29 -"xbox on" -... -"XBOX ON" -"Please verify that you are "annon332" by saying "Doritos™ Dew™ it right!" -"Doritos™ Dew™ it right" -"ERROR! Please drink a verification can" -reach into my Doritos™ Mountain Dew™ Halo 2k29™ War Chest -only a few cans left, needed to verify 14 times last night -still feeling sick from the 14 -force it down and grumble out "mmmm that really hit the spot" -xbox does nothing -i attempt to smile -"Connecting to verification server" -... -"Verification complete!" -finally -boot up halo 2k29 -finding multiplayer match... -"ERROR! User attempting to steal online gameplay!" -my mother just walked in the room -"Adding another user to your pass, this will be charged to your credit card. Do you accept?" -"NO!" -"Console entering lock state!" -"to unlock drink verification can" -last can -"WARNING, OUT OF VERIFICATION CANS, an order has been shipped and charged to your credit card" -drink half the can, oh god im going to be sick -pour the last half out the window -"PIRACY DETECTED! PLEASE COMPLETE THIS ADVERTISEMENT TO CONTINUE" -the mountain dew ad plays -i have to dance for it -feeling so sick -makes me sing along -dancing and singing -"mountain dew is for me and you" -throw up on my self -throw up on my tv and entertainment system -router shorts -"ERROR NO CONNECTION! XBOX SHUTTING OFF" -"PLEASE DRINK VERIFICATION CAN TO CONTINUE" - scottslayer Reply It is a copy of a 4Chan post from 2013.https://i.imgur.com/dgGvgKF.pngCOLGeek said:Reads like a 2600 article/letter. Well played, sir. Well played. - Bigshrimp I am glad I don't use it, because it's just a trap for the monthly subscriber vampires to bleed you dry. Limits will increase until morale improves.Reply - thestryker They definitely cut down the time allotment far too much. If these limits were weekly it would be more reasonable. I can't imagine they actually have any capacity issues and this seems more likely to flatten out heavy users so they can minimize reserved capacity.Reply Amusingly they announced a partnership with TCL to bring it to their TVs not long after this announcement. - criticaloftom Try daily limit. It's effectively renting a GPU with everything else that generally surrounds that. What sort of rental limits you to effectively half an hour a day? Microslop can come back when it is at least in the realm of rented construction equipment. they are completely delusional.Reply
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