Xbox Officially Confirms New Pay-As-You-Go Prices for Cloud Gaming

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma is pressing ahead with sweeping changes as part of a broad effort to rebuild the brand. Close to 2,000 employees have already lost their jobs, and three more rounds of layoffs are reportedly planned between October and January. The cuts are not limited to staffing. Xbox Cloud Gaming is also changing, with a pay-as-you-go model on the way. Paid cloud playtime launches in November, and the pricing has now been confirmed.

Until now, unlimited cloud gaming has come with every Game Pass tier. That is about to end, because Xbox is introducing monthly time caps for each plan. Ultimate members will receive 15 hours, Premium members 10 hours, and Essential members five hours. After those included hours run out, players must buy a Cloud playtime pack. These à la carte packs can also be bought by people who don’t subscribe to Game Pass.

Xbox Cloud Gaming playtime pack prices

The entry-level pack costs $3.99 and provides 10 hours of ad-free cloud play. The $7.99 option offers 25 hours, which is more than any Game Pass tier includes. The top pack costs $11.99 and delivers 50 hours in total. Xbox hasn’t said whether the hours included with Game Pass roll over from month to month. Purchased playtime, however, is tied to your account and can be used whenever you like, so it won’t expire at the end of the month.

Xbox has also been testing technology that picks the best moment to pause Xbox Cloud Gaming and show an ad. The plan is for every player to eventually have a free, ad-supported way to use the service. For now, that option is limited to Xbox Insiders.