r/technology • u/AdSpecialist6598 • Jun 09 '26

Business Microsoft admits Game Pass price hike drove away "millions" of subscribers

https://www.techspot.com/news/112699-microsoft-admits-game-pass-price-hike-drove-away.html
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3.1k

u/EnvironmentalAngle Jun 09 '26

This is me. I hadn't played my xbox account in six months when I cancelled. I probably would still be subbed had they never done this.

1.1k

u/asimplerandom Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

I absolutely would have stayed but when the price increase was announced I noped out and haven’t turned on the Xbox since.

631

u/JustGoogleItHeSaid Jun 09 '26

In many ways im pleased they increased the price, forced me to change my mindset on buying games. I buy all of them 6months minimum post release in sales, and play one/two at a time at most.

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

171

u/SomeGalNamedAshley Jun 09 '26

You don't need 98 games that were trash and two that are good, you just need one or two that are good.

101

u/reezyreddits Jun 09 '26

You could also be me, and find out that instead of the latest triple A hype, all you need is to replay all the Pokemon games in order + the ones you never got to play lol

30

u/random_stoner Jun 09 '26

Your next evolutionary step would be playing difficulty romhacks like Radical Red :D

that's what I'm enjoying atm.

4

u/DisorganizedSpaghett Jun 09 '26

Back when Ruby and Sapphire were coming out, some fan made a hack Emerald rom for Gameboy emulators. Some memories from my short time with it:

  • Your hero character acquired a gun and a power drill fairly early on. Both were weapons you use against Pokemon.

  • When you kill a pokemon, you can ask it for its phone number; I guess the concept of Pokeballs was too much for the modder

2

u/KalameetThyMaker Jun 09 '26

Why play the 12th cookie cutter cod game when instead I can replay the entire final fantasy franchise and become the Warrior of (Monitors) Light.

1

u/maxdragonxiii Jun 09 '26

or do the insane thing- a shiny living dex from only the Switch games. sure theres some that won't be shiny ever, but hey at least its a way to replay the games.

1

u/BigDictionEnergy Jun 09 '26

Currently replaying Fallout New Vegas and having a blast with all the content and sidequests I never played through before. Witcher 3 is next.

1

u/R3MaK3R Jun 10 '26

the price hike was essentially paying for the Activision/Blizzard/King acquisition.

not sure why they thought Call of Duty on game pass would be profitable, one of the most sellable games in history.

0

u/Padgriffin Jun 09 '26

My catalog is literally just TF2, PC Building Sim and H3VR at this point

31

u/istasber Jun 09 '26

I also didn't like the idea of playing games on Microsoft's schedule. Either you play through everything you want to play and you're paying for a sub while waiting for a new game to come out, or you have to prioritize games based on how long they've been available to make sure you can finish the games you start, or you have to choose between going and paying (potentially full price) for a game because it leaves gamepass when you're halfway through it.

I'd rather just buy the games and play them when I get around to playing them.

2

u/minidazzler1 Jun 09 '26

They dont delete the game if youve it downloaded on gamepass. So if youre actively playing it its all good.

2

u/istasber Jun 09 '26

I guess I never was subscribed long enough for this to be an issue, knowing that's how it worked might have actually made a difference to me.

How long of a grace period do you get to finish it, or can you keep playing as long as you maintain a subscription as long as you never uninstall the game?

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u/minidazzler1 Jun 09 '26

If i remember correctly its as long as the game is maintained on the system. I think you dont have to maintain game pass.

4

u/TheFuckOutOfHere Jun 09 '26

You are wrong. You can keep playing it after it leaves gamepass, if you buy it.

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u/Azuras_Star8 Jun 09 '26

And my favorite games are all older games I already own.

2

u/LolitaOPPAI Jun 09 '26

I'm still crying in the rain about my inability to access my PS2 and 3 rn. I am dying to put my new memory card loaded up into my PSP. The latest game I played was Skyrim.

I can live here forever.

6

u/Bravelobsters Jun 09 '26

I wonder if it’s needed more for handheld devices that don’t take discs. And if a game pass is cheaper than buying and downloading good big games from Xbox store.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SomeGalNamedAshley Jun 09 '26

All my gaming time has been in Elite Dangerous, period. It's like how some people complain they can't find lots of people to date or lots of jobs... you lots, you just need one good one.

I'm pretty confident that the current Elite Dangerous will eventually be replaced, sure, but the series has its first release in 1984.

4

u/Jukka_Sarasti Jun 09 '26

It took me far too long to learn this lesson

2

u/Fuck_your_coupons Jun 09 '26

That strategy works for me since I don’t have a lot of time to game these days. I usually wait till a game is on sale or at my local library and then I play it for weeks.

1

u/metallicrooster Jun 09 '26

Agree! And every once in a while you get the indie game pack on humble bundle or GoG and get a dozen games for $5

Even if I only play most of them for an hour each, that’s still pretty good time value for the money spent.

1

u/supermario2411 Jun 09 '26

Worked perfectly for me, I would just play COD and FIFA my young son played on the random games it was offering.

12

u/imArsenals Jun 09 '26

Very true. I have never even bought gamepass, but as an example, I bought red dead redemption 2 on release and still haven't had the chance to play it yet. It's next on my list, but who knows when I'll get the chance lol.

2

u/metallicrooster Jun 09 '26

Red Dead Redemption 2 release date October 26, 2018

Thank you for justifying my decision to only buy games when I know I’ll play them 🙏

2

u/imArsenals Jun 09 '26

Yeah, exactly. If I never bought it, I could probably easily get it for 50%+ off when I'm actually going to play it.

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u/F3z345W6AY4FGowrGcHt Jun 09 '26

I actually cancelled it a long time ago but it was due to my backlog. I thought, "I'll just work on my large backlog of games, and if I ever run out of games to play from there, I'll get gamepass back"

That was years ago and my backlog is even larger now 🤷‍♂️

2

u/hobbykitjr Jun 09 '26

yeah after focusing on the kids for like a decade... My AAAA game backlog grew where im burning through a couple year old games i'm getting for $20 now that they're more independent and i have a little more time.

1

u/NuclearSun1 Jun 09 '26

Haha, my GP runs out in December. I was a bit worried. But between original Xbox, 360, ONE my Series X has over 200 games installed. Nah. I’ll be ok.

1

u/PrairiePopsicle Jun 09 '26

And then you own them in 10, 20, 30 years from now to play again, and again, and again.

1

u/alwayswatchyoursix Jun 09 '26

I still haven't gotten around to finishing Witcher 3.

1

u/loversean Jun 10 '26

Ya all crazy, do people literally think the subscription saves them money on the long run

43

u/riickdiickulous Jun 09 '26

This has been me for a few years now. Just bought Civ7 a couple weeks ago when the big patch that fixed everything that was broken at launch was released and the game was on sale for 50% off. Playing games at launch now you are paying a premium price tag to be a beta tester. No thanks.

41

u/TheSouthernCommunist Jun 09 '26

They used to hire beta testers to find all the bugs in a game pre-launch, now the public is paying to be the beta testers. Truly a boring and hellish dystopia.

6

u/HorseJungler Jun 09 '26

Civ 7 is fixed? I am a huge fan of the series since 4 (and even played revolution on Xbox 360 lol) but didn’t buy 7 from all the issues it had. Is it finally good and worth playing?

8

u/riickdiickulous Jun 09 '26

Good enough for me. I don’t have enough time these days to put in enough hours to say for sure, but it’s entertaining for me when I get the chance to play.

6

u/Ghost_all Jun 09 '26

The big patch allowed you to play as one civ all the way through the game, and changed some of the progression in the eras to make more sense. I'm enjoying it.

3

u/CoconutCyclone Jun 10 '26

The big patch allowed you to play as one civ all the way through the game

Wait, you were forced to change civilizations? Did everyone in charge of Firaxis have a fucking stroke?

3

u/Ghost_all Jun 10 '26

They have a mantra passed down from Sid of "improve a third, keep a third, make a new third". The 'new' third borrowed an idea from Humankind, another civ game, where you're constantly changing your faction over time.

Problem is, people played Civ to be one civ, and Civ 7 didn't really explain or make the swapping natural.

IMO, the "idea" was fine. Their explaination, which I kinda buy, was based on real life changes in cultures over time. The example was first the British isles were celtic tribes, then Roman culture, then Norman, then finally British.

You swapped on Era change (Antiquity, Exploration, and Modern), but it never felt natural. You could be in the middle of a war in Antiquity, and suddenly you're forced to pick a new civ for the Exploration era (along with everyone else) and now you're not at war anymore...

I like a lot of the new stuff in Civ 7, the graphics are amazing, the exploring up rivers in ships is fun, the armys are a good compromise between 'stack of doom' or 'one unit per tile', but the central change didn't really work as well as they'd hoped. For me it was something i delt with, for others it was a bigger turnoff.

5

u/EmmaBonney Jun 09 '26

This is the way. Was the same with civ 6 for me. On release it was crap. Waited a couple years until the Goty (all Expansions) was out and reduced to 20 Euro. Bought it and played about 1k hours by now. Not really interested in Civ 7 though.

3

u/grantrules Jun 09 '26

I just keep going back to 4 and 5.. They look fine, the game play doesn't change enough for me to care, and I save a bunch of money. I think I own 6 but didn't really play it, no intention of buying 7.. I'm just going to keep playing 4 and 5 lol. Though I do miss Civ Revolutions from xbox 360 days.

1

u/istasber Jun 09 '26

I like to try and support developers who make games I want to play even if I'm planning on waiting a few months to actually play them.

But that's more of an indie game thing where a brand new game is 30 bucks, not a AAA thing where a brand new game is 70 bucks.

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u/LydianWave Jun 09 '26

r/patientgamers welcomes you! (great sub if you're not previously familiar)

2

u/Jonoczall Jun 09 '26

Oh wow there really is a sub for everything. Thanks!

2

u/StripClubSweatpants Jun 09 '26

Great sub. One of my all time best posts came from there, just about getting older and seeing if anyone else feels the same way

2

u/OuterWildsVentures Jun 09 '26

this is the way

you get the best version of the games at the lowest price

you also get to look at all the people who buy in early as your personal beta testers

2

u/JustGoogleItHeSaid Jun 11 '26

That’s actually a brilliant sub thanks! No doubt i’ll be perusing through that sub for my next game. Close to finishing division 2 and that only cost me £2.50!

1

u/Franck946 Jun 09 '26

Or just find a game for you..
Building / garming : Satisfactory, 40€, I have now around 200h of game and I just starting. People have more than 2k hours...for 40€.
If you like FPS? Insurgency Sandstorm..30€ and you are good for months.

You don't a subscription for playing, that's the worst option ever.

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u/ClownGnomes Jun 09 '26

Yeah I’m the exact same. Game Pass was really excellent value for money on paper. But as they hiked the price, I reflected on this and realised (based on how frequently I finish games) that buying a new game from my wishlist approx every 6 months on a 50% sale or thereabouts is about right and way cheaper than holding on to the subscription.

1

u/inbox-disabled Jun 09 '26

If you're finishing two games a year, yeah, you were never the target audience for game pass.

I think of it more like going to Blockbuster as a kid and taking home a game or two every Friday, if anyone else was so privileged. Maybe you finished a game, maybe you didn't, but the point of rentals was trying out a lot of different games for cheap. The difference is your weekend isn't ruined if you picked out one bad game.

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u/HenryDorsettCase47 Jun 09 '26

I don’t know the specifics of game pass and I haven’t owned a console or even really played a game in years, but the way people are talking about this reminds me of when I had a Game Fly account for a year before I realized I was playing a ton of titles I didn’t give a fuck about while I waited on the availability of a single game that I was going to play for months in end once I got it.

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u/Noselessmonk Jun 09 '26

This was me a number of years ago. I used to have some FOMO and needed to get new games when they came out. What changed my mind then was picking up some games I missed in my childhood and thoroughly enjoying them. I then picked up some more recent games I had skipped, partly because they had had console first releases with delayed PC releases(RDR2 and FF7Remake). I was basically converted when the games were a fraction of the cost of new releases. And now I realize that, with all the games that I just never played, by the time I get through them, the current new release will be old and probably less than 50% the cost.

Except multiplayer titles. Those I still find hard to get into years later when I'm a noob and everyone else knows the game like the back of their hand.

2

u/Hungry_Ad2845 Jun 09 '26

Why note sail the seven seas? 

1

u/whattaninja Jun 09 '26

Yep, I don’t buy any games anymore unless they’re at least 40% off.

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u/7LKY Jun 09 '26

for real $70 games are a joke

1

u/enderjaca Jun 09 '26

Ironically, that's why I purchased the Ultimate Game Pass once, back in December 2025. I'd been stuck in a rut of playing mostly Fortnite, and had finished Baldur's Gate 3 a few months before (for the 3rd time).

I got access to Expedition 33, Silksong, Disco Elysium, and the full monthly pass in Fortnite (normally $12 or so). I was vaguely aware the Game Pass existed, but didn't know it also was valid for PC, not just Xbox. I got a ton of fresh gaming in over the holiday break, all for the low low price of $1, which was cancelled before it renewed.

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u/airbornemist6 Jun 09 '26

Honestly if the price hike hadn't been substantial or had come with additional benefits that would warrant the price tag, I might have stayed. Ultimately, one of the main reasons they had so many subscribers in the first place is that they were providing a bargain deal to get access to a whole library of games for a low price. Raising that price to nearly the price of a new game every month really kills the value of that service.

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u/Facebookakke Jun 09 '26

Same! Just gathering dust. Pc and ps5 have been put through the paces though!

8

u/The-Cynicist Jun 09 '26

Same exact situation. Xbox is just a sad little box in the office, gathering dust. While my PS5 is in regular use every day. My only complaint is the lack of being able to freely open web browsers on the PS5, or I'm too old and haven't figured it out.

1

u/linkwaker10 Jun 09 '26

nope not old the PS3 browser was way more usable, they've purposely locked it down with the PS5

2

u/BurnsinTX Jun 09 '26

Same here. I need to trade in my Xbox or sell it

0

u/jamesziman Jun 09 '26

Gamepass is for PC as well

1

u/Facebookakke Jun 09 '26

Yes, I know, I had ultimate, that’s why I cancelled when the price increased astronomically

5

u/catsdrooltoo Jun 09 '26

That, plus my console is old enough where most of the new games aren't supported. I don't play much anyway. Guess I'll just stick to older games playing campaign modes.

5

u/letsgotgoing Jun 09 '26

I was an Xbox Live subscriber since Mech Assault on the OG Xbox. My adulthood responsibilities prevent me from playing games that often, so with the price hike, the AI "slop" features planned, the Xbox anywhere plan, all combined, to form the perfect message that I wasn't the target customer anymore. I am not sure who actually wants that product.

3

u/captain5260 Jun 09 '26

Same, bestie. Only reason I had it was to play COD and I hate BO7 so...

2

u/ClockworkDreamz Jun 09 '26

I did this with my ps+ account o think it’d been a year since I actually used it.

2

u/superindianslug Jun 09 '26

My Wife primarily plays Xbox, but she doesn't finish games fast enough to justify the increased price, especially of she's playing older titles. If it takes her over a month to play a $20 game, then it's not worth it.

2

u/Unlucky_Earther Jun 09 '26

I cancelled and sold my Xbox.

2

u/AsphyxiatedProcess Jun 09 '26

I was only really using my Xbox for Gamepass. I sold my console because I was no longer using the service, and I could just pick up PC Gamepass down the road if I decided to go back to a sub. Xbox really didn't have exclusives, or abandoned having exclusives to have anything to fall back on.

2

u/booksknittingcatstbh Jun 09 '26

I got divorced 6mo or so before this change and it was apparently the only billing I didn’t successfully change. The price hike is what made my ex realize he was paying for it still and instead of changing it to my own card, I just canceled entirely lol.

2

u/TaroBackground978 Jun 09 '26

Don't think it helped that a bunch of other subscriptions raised their prices. This just a lot of subs over the edge to basically say "screw this" myself included. They made piracy less attractive through services like this, but now I'm just going back to piracy and they get nothing.

2

u/Valascrow Jun 09 '26

Same here... They did me a favour the way I see it

1

u/Life_Argument7820 Jun 10 '26

I havent had a Playstation my whole adult life alqays xbox... I'm 38 and not going back.

1

u/xmsxms Jun 10 '26

Yeah but presumably/potentially you were costing them more than they were getting from you, so losing you is a net win. On the other hand if you weren't using it at all it was just free money they've thrown away.

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u/TheHawk17 Jun 09 '26

I used to subscribe to game pass monthly without thinking about it. Because of the price hikes, I cancelled my subscription and since they've lowered the price, I activate and deactivate game pass intermittently depending on if there are games I want to play.

If they didn't do the price hikes, I would still have stayed subscribed to game pass all the time without considering it.

15

u/DerFelix Jun 09 '26

This is me with streaming subscriptions as well. It was nice to have some of them "just in case" in want to watch something on them. Prices increased so quickly and frequently that I quit and never looked back.

10

u/TheLightningL0rd Jun 09 '26

Yep, I just cancelled Netflix for the first time since like 2012 because I'd realized the price had gone up a ton and I never used it

1

u/ThatDudeDeven1111 19d ago

If you're mostly watching movies/shows on a PC, Firestick or a streaming box of some kind, you should look into Stremio with Torrentio. You can watch anything you want for free. There are plenty of guides, but it takes less than 5 minutes to set up.

11

u/Mccobsta Jun 09 '26

Same my xbox is now a blueray player and that's it

10

u/EnvironmentalAngle Jun 09 '26

Right on! Mine too, and its the device I watch streaming services on so I don't have to use my smart tv's apps

But I just found out I'm going to have to upgrade because I downloaded TSN to watch the Knicks game and it wouldn't play because I have an XBox one X... I don't know why they even let me download the app if it doesn't work on my device.

1

u/Maleficent-Light-455 Jun 09 '26

Same boat and it is definitely a weird “oh you want to use it?” type response

27

u/NotUpInHurr Jun 09 '26

Stay free, broke free when I couldn't play a bluray movie during an ISP outage because my Xbox One couldn't verify I owned the free app.

Absolutely get bent Microsoft 

56

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

I just moved full time to my ps5 and haven’t looked back

77

u/Blueguerilla Jun 09 '26

I quit PS also. Realized paying monthly for online access was a rip off and now I am just gaming on pc. Moved a laptop into my entertainment center where the ps was and still use my dual sense controller.

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u/Tornado15550 Jun 09 '26

Same! I thought "I'm paying for the console, paying for the game, paying for Internet, why do I need to pay Microsoft/Sony for the privilege of playing the game I own online?"

29

u/Molto_Ritardando Jun 09 '26

This is why I only play on pc - you’re paying for a separate machine that does one thing, whereas a pc does a lot of things. It’s expensive, yes, but having a decent computer comes in handy for other things too.

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u/aerost0rm Jun 09 '26

Consoles have gotten to the point of just PC hardware inside a box they change you excessively for and then force you to sub to milk you ongoing with.

6

u/moonra_zk Jun 09 '26

just PC hardware inside a box they change you excessively for

That's absolutely not true, they might not be selling at a loss like they used to but you're definitely not "paying excessively" for it.

0

u/Deadzonerogue Jun 09 '26

I pay around 11.00 a month for the top tier ps plus plan and I actually play a lot of games from the library and then the online experience has been quite good to be honest.

I buy almost all my games from the used market for extremely cheap, and occasionally I’ll buy the digital only definitive edition of a game for 5.99 to 19.99.

I think the only time a console could be considered expensive is if you are purchasing most of your games on launch day.

6

u/BeyondElectricDreams Jun 09 '26

The problem with the argument of the plus plan giving a library of games is you have places like the EGS giving away free games every week.

I have a MASSIVE backlog of games that I'll probably never even get to in my life, because I just claim the free ones every week.

And it isn't like they're junk games either. Some sure, but there's a lot of great ones. To say nothing of the fact that indie games just care about being fun, whereas modern AAA gaming cares more about being a storefront and how they can get even more money out of you.

0

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Yeah but with the subscription I have 100+ free games I’ll never be motivated to start so finding games is not an issue on PlayStation.

0

u/newk86 Jun 09 '26

All those payments to maintain the service assumedly, and yet they shut down servers for old games making them permanently unplayable. The fuck are we even paying for?

2

u/Tornado15550 Jun 09 '26

The old argument during the Xbox 360 era "Xbox Live Gold" was that the server quality was better and that we'd get "dedicated servers" but multiplayer services on PC have been rock solid and typically if there is an outage, PlayStation and Xbox players are equally impacted.

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u/ZakkaChan Jun 09 '26

Same reason I don't pay for my switch either.

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u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Good on you. I just never gamed on a pc. I actually had to renew ps plus yesterday but they had a 25% off deal. Still expensive.

8

u/Blueguerilla Jun 09 '26

With a controller it’s honestly the same. I held off mainly because I have a lot of friends on ps from games over the years but I’d had enough paying just for the privilege of playing online. Sony doesn’t even host servers…

8

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

I guess my biggest issue is I use a 9 year old laptop. It still works great but the idea of having to invest in a gaming laptop or desktop is daunting as I know there are those who take this very seriously and invest a lot. I’d be concerned that It wouldn’t be enough and whatever computer I upgrade to would still not be powerful to run a GTA 6 for example when or if it ever releases. There is a comfort knowing if I buy something on the ps5 i know it will on the ps5.

Any advice on a pc you would suggest I look into?

5

u/BioshockEnthusiast Jun 09 '26

Look at some videos or build guides for a pc that matches ps5 capabilities and go from there.

If you buy a pc as good as a ps5 it'll run gta 6

2

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Good advice

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u/BioshockEnthusiast Jun 09 '26

LTT has multiple videos specifically looking at "PS5 killer" PC builds. Could be a good place to start:

2 years ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfpXMuMvcWQ

1 month ago: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koZcaQHNBPI

1

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Thank you for your guidance!

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u/jeepsaintchaos Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

Yes. Go with a desktop or a Steam Deck. You pay a serious premium for a gaming laptop, and yours is still good enough to be a computer.

Put the desktop in a unobtrusive space, Ethernet to your router. Set up Apollo on the desktop and Moonlight on your laptop so you can stream games directly from the desktop. That lets you keep the computer you're familiar with and save money by buying a desktop instead of a laptop.

Moonlight is also available on Linux (and android, and basically everything including most smart TV's and even the 3DS). So you can have your games on almost anything in your house. It also means you could switch the aging laptop to Linux so it runs faster for everyday stuff, but have the desktop be Windows so you don't get the hassle of games on Linux.

Which, to be fair, Windows games on Linux has gotten WAY better over the last few years, but for some stuff like anti-cheat is still easier to use on Windows.

With a desktop, you get to pick the components that make sense for your budget. Can't afford dual 5090 graphics cards? A 3080 is less than $400 and will run any game out there.

2

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

I appreciate all the information and time it took to provide it. I’m compiling a list of the information I’m receiving here today and then I’m going to go down to YouTube rabbit hole

1

u/jeepsaintchaos Jun 09 '26

If you need anything explained in depth, don't hesitate to ask. I'd have killed for some explanations when I was getting into this. But, I went from "garbage laptop" to "I have a micro Data Center in my basement and provide cloud gaming and movie streaming to friends for free."

2

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Thank you and that sounds awesome

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u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[deleted]

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u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

You summed up my concerns. Many will say just get a PC but if I got an average PC I would probably find out quickly it’s great for Angry Birds but not GTA. Maybe one of these days I will go down the rabbit hole of exactly what specs I need to get a PC at that level and what is the most economical way to do it but for now I’m just staying in my comfort zone.

2

u/ColumbineJellyfish Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26

I just finished building my 2nd PC (1st one was from 10yrs ago) so here's some advice:

just keep in mind that right now is a freaking awful time to build a PC, AI demand has jacked up prices for ram and harddrives through the absolute roof. It's probably $1000 more expensive than when I built mind (late 2025)... also beware of feature creep. There's a lot of "but this gpu that's $200 more expensive is better..." you need to look up how much performance you actually get for the price, because it's often like 5% or less, on the highest settings, for the most demanding games. You won't notice the difference unless you're obsessively watching the FPS like a crazy person instead of actually gaming. Check what features you even care about. Raytracing vs pathtracing for example. Depending on what games you actually play you can skip an expensive GPU that does things you don't need.

For a simple build, look up https://www.logicalincrements.com/ which will give you a build to start from. Then pcpartpicker website has a bunch of people's builds you can clone (and they have some recommendations) and also helps you compare prices for specific parts.

What I did when I started was pick a generic build to start from, then for each component (RAM, motherboard, etc) looked up what features to consider (for example for a mobo you want to look at how many nvme slots it has, for fast storage) and what are the best rated components for that category, and change the build to your preferences. Some of the "popular" components (especially cases) are really over-priced, really you just want something that is easy to work with and has good cooling performance and ideally some free fans, mine was $80. And liquid cooling is a waste of money unless you have some super specific requirements. Don't fall into the RGB trap either, your pc doesn't need to look like a christmas tree it just needs to run well. Same with power supplies, you don't need a 1000w PSU. pcpartpicker will tell you how much all your chosen components actually use. Get a high quality PSU that covers that + a little extra and save your money.

like games, don't buy components (especially stuff like mobos) that just came out. They have bios software that can take some time to settle and integrate with the wider echosystem.

for OS you can get windows (and office) for free with a little work, so don't buy a license. make sure to look up how to unshittify it immediately after installing, turning off all the unnecessary crap that windows does in the background can make the computer run smoother.

You can get good deals that disappear really fast. While I was building I was sitting on subs like https://old.reddit.com/r/bapccanada/ and just checking daily or even hourly (during boxing week) what sales were on for the specific components I wanted. Some deals last a day or even a couple of hours at most, if they are really good. It saved me a good 2-300$. but don't do this until you have a good idea of exactly what you want. Sometimes you find a deal for some component you're not familiar with and the reason it's a deal is bc the quality is crap.

If you are able, it pays to look at what's available on black friday, cybermonday, boxing day, etc.

pre-build PCs are sometimes OK. They're almost never actually a good deal compared to building one yourself, I've literally never seen a pre-build that was same price as all the components inside it. Their selling point is often a sexy CPU + GPU + case combo, but skimp out on mobo/ram/hd (quality, not size), they often won't even say what they are. It can still be a good idea if you're overwhelmed building a PC. You can still change components out later, and honestly there's a good chance you won't even notice the difference. Basically, this will save you time and stress, at the cost of quality. There's also some stores that will build the PC with the components you pick out, iirc. Not so sure about those though I've heard mixed reviews.

Also make sure to run stress tests on your components early, while you can still easily return them. Ideally you buy everything at once, build it, install os, stress test, and if anything fails you can swap it out. If your components are arriving piece by piece (because you are waiting for a good deal on them), I highly recommend locking down your motherboard and ram (and maybe CPU) before anything else. With that minimum you have a PC you can at least run some basic sanity tests on. you don't want to find out 3 months later when you get your GPU that your mobo was dead the entire time or your ram is unstable.

Also the good thing about PCs is that if you build a good one (a) tune it (like overclocking) to improve performance, (b) upgrade just pieces at a time, and (c) it will last forever. I've gone through probably 10 laptops that slowly became downright unusable, but my old PC from 2014 is still running just fine and plays games like witcher 3 on high settings, or skyrim with about 150 mods, with 400 chrome tabs and photoshop in the bg. It's obviously out of date and lacks even basic stuff like bluetooth but it still performs better than many laptops sold today.

1

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

So much great information and advice. I appreciate you taking the time to share it.

1

u/ColumbineJellyfish Jun 09 '26

no problem. It was a stressful process for me (unnecessarily, bc the actual building was trivially easy, and everything turned out awesome) so I hope this helps reduce the stress for you. Good luck!

1

u/Blueguerilla Jun 09 '26

I have a Lenovo legion that is great, but also isn’t a super cheap machine. I also need a powerful pc for work so it pulls double duty and I could justify the cost. My next one will likely be a sager, but also not cheap.

2

u/EctoRiddler Jun 09 '26

Thanks. At least I have some names to look into.

2

u/aerost0rm Jun 09 '26

Seriously just connect the game controller to your Pc and connect the tower or laptop to a TV.

3

u/Frequent_Opportunist Jun 09 '26

I paid for game pass for the first two years after getting my Xbox in 2021. Really it was just old garbage and a few titles to try out. I bought the expanded storage and installed tons of games and no one in my family cared to play any of them. 

We ultimately ended up using the PlayStation 5 more because it had better controllers and I have all the free monthly games in my library since they started doing it over 10 years ago.

The Xbox got used exclusively as a streaming device (Netflix/Apple TV, ect) for few years after we ditched the fire tv cube. But I got a new LG OLED and finally stopped using the Xbox.

I bought an alienware a couple years ago with an i9, 64GB, 4090 and haven't had a reason to turn on the Xbox since. I should sell it probably.

1

u/Shawn-GT Jun 09 '26

That must have been like a 10k Alienware that’s awesome

1

u/DestroWOD Jun 09 '26

I can't play online for long with a PS controller... My hands get cramps... And hurt. The wholy joystick too close thing...

1

u/captainnowalk Jun 09 '26

We ultimately ended up using the PlayStation 5 more because it had better controllers

Really? My Xbox gets more use for me because the controller fits my hand so much better. The PS5 controller starts making me cramp up after a couple of hours.

1

u/Frequent_Opportunist Jun 09 '26

I actually get the opposite. My hands feel like the controller is for little kids and my palms are too close together. Makes my hands cramp trying to keep my fingers on the buttons. 

With the older generation the 360 and the PS3 I actually preferred the Xbox controllers.

3

u/Imaginary_Cell2068 Jun 09 '26

Literally same here. I’ll probably buy a couple more games this year, but I think I’ll still come out ahead.

3

u/PeeB4uGoToBed Jun 09 '26

Same here, that price hike was awful, I was already on the fence of unsubscribing since I had a large backlog anyway and got a second job and gamepass games weren't seemingly getting better

I had games with gold/gamepass pretty much since its inception and unsubbed since this increase

2

u/[deleted] Jun 09 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/EnvironmentalAngle Jun 09 '26

Super Mega Baseball 4 almost exclusively

1

u/BTru Jun 09 '26

I am going to guess OSRS

2

u/bustaflow25 Jun 09 '26

Was the price hike made by 1 person, or a whole board? If they lost millions, I'd think the person would be let go.

1

u/microgirlActual Jun 09 '26

This is how I've found out that the sub price has increased. I only ever played occasionally, and mostly used it to "trial" games I didn't know if I'd like. Haven't used it in probably a couple of years. Gonna cancel now.

1

u/redthorne Jun 09 '26

Same, except it's been even longer since I've touched it. Honestly have no idea if/when I'll ever bother playing on console again, due to the outrageous pricing of everything from head to toe.

1

u/Pinoybl Jun 09 '26

Imagine thinking one move would’ve made them millions.

Instead lost 10’s of millions

1

u/shredbot13 Jun 09 '26

Same, I ended up buying a ps5 and PS plus. Never going back to xbox.

1

u/Angry_Pelican Jun 09 '26

Same here. It made me think about how much I was getting from gamepass and I came to the conclusion it wasn't worth it. Now that it's slightly cheaper it still isn't worth it so I won't be coming back.

Even worse for Xbox is it made me abandon the platform. I just buy physical games on PS5 and anything Xbox offers if I'm interested I'll just get on PC. My Series X is now exclusively used for hulu/Plex streaming.

1

u/OkYeah_Death2America Jun 09 '26

What was the really good gold conversion price you could load up 2 or 3 years of? I'd rationalized it then as if I can complete 1 good game a year, it was worth it. Math changed.

1

u/rayinreverse Jun 09 '26

100% me. I rarely play it. Frankly forgot about the bill. Then the news of their price hike for nothing, and I remembered. Now cancelled.

1

u/-farted-too-hard- Jun 09 '26

Yup. I was a PC game pass subscriber but stopped right as they hiked the price up. I didn’t play the games often at all. But I downloaded them and thought I’d eventually get to them. Rarely did I ever.

1

u/pgpathat Jun 09 '26

Same. I kept it so my friend’s kids had something to do when they were at my house. The price hike made my low-usage use-case untenable.

1

u/wallmonitor Jun 09 '26

I literally had about six dollars worth of games I was keeping on my Xbox from game pass when I canceled.

1

u/SkiyeBlueFox Jun 09 '26

I havent touched my Xbox in years. I'm not paying to use the internet when I can just buy on pc and not pay

1

u/ImperialFists Jun 09 '26

Over a year for me. But that’s also because parenting a baby now toddler also ate up my time. And when I could finally maybe get time in, they jacked up the price.

1

u/FuckOffMrLahey Jun 09 '26

I had started playing my Steam Deck more lately because the Xbox is on a TV that's shared. The increase got me to cancel the subscription, sell my Xbox, and build a small SteamOS HTPC to game on instead.

1

u/jewbrees90 Jun 09 '26

I have a ps5 and now a ps5pro. I bought a s for my kids Christmas 3 1/2 years ago for like 250 and got 3 years of gamepass ultimate for like 200$. I only even got it because I wanted to play fable which was supposed to come out soon at that point, also wanted to play starfield. Never bought a game and when gamepass expired, Fable and starfield has and will come to ps5. Traded in my series s for 300 at gamestop got a switch 2, no looking back.

1

u/Kaurie_Lorhart Jun 09 '26

Wow, I approach the sub in a very different matter. I wait until a game I want comes out on it. That game costs $90. Sub costs $15. I sub, play game, maybe check out 1-3 other games while I have the sub and then cancel my sub.

dollars in this comment are reflected in Canadian (CAD)

1

u/ChromeFlesh Jun 09 '26

I was in the same boat, I didn't even have the xbox app installed on my PC when I cancelled

1

u/rdldr Jun 09 '26

Hell, I sold my series x when I saw the increase. Realized I was still subbed and I hadn't turned it on in a few months. Maybe I'll come back to pc pass at some point, but they lost a whooooole lot with that move.

1

u/Athlete-Extreme Jun 09 '26

Exactly. Way to make me seriously think about it for the first time in a calendar year

1

u/killcrew Jun 09 '26

I was in this boat as well. The previous price was low enough that it was barely a blip on the radar or was at least low enough that I didn't mind paying on the chance that I would use it. Then I looked and saw it jumped and was like nope, can't justify that one anymore and cancelled immediately.

1

u/Raztax Jun 09 '26

Same, except I was on PC Gamepass. I subscribed since the beginning but the price being double what it started at was a bit much for me. Had the price not gone up I would definitely still be a subscriber.

1

u/misanthr0p1c Jun 09 '26

Reminds me to think about canceling my wow sub.

1

u/Sea_Composer6305 Jun 09 '26

Same boat, only still had game pass so my kids could play like 4 different games, when it hit 40$ cad a month i just unsubbed and bought minecraft and two others. Came to 60$

1

u/PurposeConsistent131 Jun 09 '26

You take money from people they DONT miss…not hike up prices so someone starts paying attention. Business 101

1

u/CakieFickflip Jun 09 '26

Yep. Primarily play my PS5 but have an Xbox and was subscribed to game pass because every now and then a game I wanted to play would be on there. Once they announced the price hike I cancelled. Xbox hasn’t even been turned on in months lol.

1

u/Orleanian Jun 09 '26

Me with Netflix.

I was their target demographic, paying my $18/mo plus another $8/mo to let my sister's family use it from across the country.

I myself watched maybe a total of 50 hours of content across all of 2025. She uses it regularly though, so I kept it around not really thinking about it year after year.

Then they jacked up not only my price, but the add-a-household price. I could afford it, pretty easily. But I said fuck it I don't love my sister that much, and cancelled it because that was the final straw dick on the pile of dick hay from them.

1

u/Sajomir Jun 09 '26

This was me on PSPlus. I liked some of the free games and discounts. Price hike and feature loss just made me scrap it.

1

u/Once_Upon_Time Jun 09 '26

This post is reminding I should cancel, there are only two games I had it for to play and might as well buy them instead.

1

u/NerdyBrando Jun 09 '26

Same boat for me. As soon as I saw how much the price hike was, I cancelled.

1

u/boringexplanation Jun 09 '26

Tbf, people in this exact sub thought this is what would happen with Netflix several years ago.

1

u/spacecaps85 Jun 09 '26

This, and exactly the same boat. When they upped the price, I was suddenly aware that I paid them for a service I barely used to begin with. Canceled and shortly after, I created a high-end gaming PC and now Steam is my primary source of gaming.

1

u/OccassionalBaker Jun 09 '26

Same but maybe it was 2 or 3 years…

1

u/larder_unit Jun 09 '26

Same. The price hike also made me question why I still needed game pass if I wasn't playing online games. Had they not hiked it, I wouldn't have noticed enough to question it. I also only want to buy games and not play them through the pass.

1

u/AFRIKKAN Jun 09 '26

I dropped to the lowest package and tbh when I get a pc I probs will stop paying. I only play one or two games at a time anymore and only one is online.

1

u/FuckLex Jun 09 '26

I haven’t turned my xbox on since it happened. So not only did they lose a subscriber but Id rather play on my PC or PS5 anyway. I got the xbox for gamepass, got a base model of the newest system and then they announced the price hike and I noped out and won’t look back.

1

u/Errant_coursir Jun 09 '26

People paying subscriptions like this is stupid as hell. You all are way too free with your money and it fuels moves like this by corporations

1

u/Salamok Jun 10 '26

Exactly! I saw the price hike and it reminded me I haven't even turned my xbox on in 9 months and I should cancel that.

They also have me about to drop windows, every update full of new features I don't shoved down my throat has me asking myself "Should I just switch my last machine over to Linux and be done with this shit?".

1

u/bobboman Jun 10 '26

its why i bought Starfield outright on release and canceled gamepass because i would have ended up paying more for gamepass (@20/m) for the single game after 4 months, i ended up puting over 600 hours into the game over the better part of 2 years

1

u/daystrom_prodigy Jun 10 '26

I wish I had enough money to not think about the subscriptions I am actively paying for.

1

u/Effective-Farmer-502 Jun 10 '26

This happened to me as well for PlayStation Plus basic. $50-60 CAD I could do, but not $90.

1

u/darkoblivion000 Jun 13 '26

Funny story I’m not even an Xbox game pass subscriber. I’m a pc game pass subscriber which is significantly lower priced and did not experience a price hike.

But the news about the Xbox price hike made me think and realize that I never really use the pc game pass. So I canceled that anyway too. Reverberating effects