Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Explained
Microsoft seems to have confused people with their new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. Not so much on what’s being offer – Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass for the console and PC – but on the revealed conversion rate.
Before getting into that, let’s talk about the $1 deal and how it relates to your current subscriptions. Normally, this bundle would cost $14.99 a month. As of right now though, gamers can purchase a month of the pass for $1. If you already have a Gold and/or Game Pass subscription(s), they’ll be upgraded to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with the remaining months being added to this new subscription.
Bleeding Edge – Launching on Xbox Game Pass
For instance, if you have four months left on your Xbox Live Gold sub and 3 months left on the Xbox Game Pass, you’ll get 8 months of Xbox Game Pass after paying the $1 (which grants you one month of the combined service). The catch is that you can only get up to 36 months converted over when upgrade.
Things change a bit after upgrading to Ultimate. Gamers will still be able to redeem Xbox Live/Game Pass codes but they won’t translate in the same fashion due to the difference in price. Purchasing 1 month of Xbox Live Gold/Game Pass will grant you 20 days of Ultimate. 12 months of the Xbox Game Pass translates to 5 months of Ultimate. Buying 12 months of Gold is worse (you’ll only get 4 months of Ultimate).
The conversion rate isn’t exactly unfair. Considering how much it costs to have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, it makes sense that you wouldn’t be able to trade up to the better service for less. The prepaid conversion works because you’ve already bought a subscription; MS wouldn’t negate the time you’ve already paid for. They would, however, “fix” the conversation rate after the fact.
This is something that gamers should look into before upgrading. Once you upgrade, you won’t be able to go back to your separate subscriptions. That said, being able to get this bundle (along with the months of whatever service you currently have) for $1 is quite the deal.
