Xbox Game Pass price hike sees subscribers crash website and it's not good news for Microsoft

Gamers have crashed Xbox's website as they rush to cancel their Game Pass subscriptions amid a major price hike.

Its subscription service has been majorly shaken-up, with Microsoft announcing a revamped tier system from yesterday (Wednesday, October 1).

They are Essential - basically a renaming of Core - Premium, and Ultimate, with the latter getting a 50 percent bump up to $29.99 a month.

Xbox has tried to flog it as a good deal, with Ultimate perks including Ubisoft+ Classics - a back catalogue of older Ubisoft games such as Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag - as well as Fortnite Crew. Unsurprisingly, however, subscribers were less than impressed.

People took to Reddit, where they threatened to cancel their subscriptions in light of the news.

"I was off and on Ultimate recently. At $20 it wasn’t always an easy decision. Now at $30 it’s a very easy decision," one said.

"...30 a month. That’s an instant cancelation," a second said, adding: "I’ll just buy and own my games. Thanks."

"I had been thinking of cancelling, but seems like they made the choice for me," a third weighed in.

And so, people flooded Xbox's cancelation page to practice what they preached.

Only, they quickly discovered the website had crashed - presumably under the weight of the sudden influx of visitors desperate to claw back their money.

Taking to social media, people said the site was 'overloaded,' with nothing loading on screens.

Those who could gain access said it was 'running pretty slow,' as reported by The Gamer.

The site is now back up and running and it's unclear how long it was actually down for.

The Xbox website explains: "You can cancel an Xbox subscription at any time. Turning off recurring billing will stop future charges for a subscription and grant you its benefits until its expiration date.

"You may also be eligible to cancel immediately with a refund; however, not all subscription charges can be refunded."

This development, obviously, isn't great news for Microsoft, who I'm sure believed this shake-up would be making them more money, not less.

But it's not the first time they've angered Xbox players.

Back in January 2021, Microsoft announced it would raise the price of Xbox Live Gold, effectively doubling the cost of online multiplayer for many players from $59.99 to $119.99 for the year.

The move was framed as aligning with Game Pass’s growing value, but fans saw it as unfair, especially given Gold was required just to play most games online.

The backlash was immediate and unrelenting. Within 24 hours, Microsoft issued an apology and reversed the decision.

As a goodwill gesture, they also removed the requirement for Gold to play free-to-play online games, such as Fortnite and Apex Legends.

No doubt Xbox gamers will be hoping to see history repeat itself here.