Microsoft ends $1 Xbox Game Pass promo ahead of Starfield’s launch

Microsoft has quietly discontinued its Game Pass deal, which allowed players to secure a two-week subscription to the service for just $1.

The details:

• According to the Polish website XGP, the promotional offer is no longer available on the Microsoft Store as of August 27. The deal was available for years, until March 2023, and allowed players to spend $1/£1/€1 for an entire month of Game Pass access, until it was removed and reintroduced in July with only 14 days on offer.
• Unsurprisingly, the removal comes just days before Bethesda's upcoming Starfield's early access release on August 31, which will be released to the general public on September 6. The RPG will be a day-one release on Game Pass, allowing subscribers to access the brand-new title for no additional cost. It will likely help increase the number of subscribers to the service, as Game Pass Ultimate's $16.99 a month cost is still a fraction of the game's $70 price tag.
• Microsoft confirmed in June that it would raise Game Pass prices across the board in August, with Xbox's head of communications Kari Perez stating that the decision was made to "reflect the competitive conditions in each market.”
• The $1 deal was also notoriously exploited by users, with players creating new accounts every month and sharing the subscription with their main accounts on their PC or console, which may have influenced the decision to discontinue the offer entirely.

More Xbox news:

• Xbox head Phil Spencer stated that he would "love to find solutions" to the possibility of hundreds of Xbox 360-era titles being lost to time when the Xbox 360 storefront closes in July 2024. Currently, approximately 220 titles will be rendered unplayable following the closure as they have not been ported to other platforms.
• Larian Studios has announced that it has found a solution to the technical issues that have been preventing the Xbox version of Baldur's Gate 3 from being released. The split screen co-op mode will be removed from the Xbox Series S version of the game, though Microsoft has stated that it hopes to re-introduce it in a future update.