GameStop straight-up says it'll ignore the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price hike and keep selling subscriptions for $20 instead of $30 "in-store and online"

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Can they... can they just do that?

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
(Image credit: Microsoft)

GameStop seems to be going scorched Earth on one of its biggest business partners, pledging to continue selling Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions for $20 instead of the newly announced $30 price increase.

The retailer has not been quiet about Microsoft's massively controversial Xbox Game Pass price hike, quickly reacting to the news with a meme that now seems relatively tame by comparison.

While other retails like Amazon and Target are still selling Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions for the old $20, GameStop seems to be the only one to come out and commit to that outdated pricing indefinitely. Bold.

I'm not even sure this is legal. I suppose it depends on Xbox, as the service's owner, and where it wants to set the minimum advertised price (MAP). One would think an official price increase like the one it announced would raise MAP, but it seems GameStop may have found a loophole. Or maybe it's just testing the waters to see how Microsoft responds. I really, truly don't know here, but I'm really curious to see how this unfolds.

For what it's worth, Microsoft also jacked up the price of Game Pass PC, from $11.99 to $16.49 monthly, but GameStop's deal seems to be exclusive to Game Pass Ultimate.

Meanwhile, Microsoft continues reading anything but the room with a full-page Xbox Game Pass advertisement on console startup a day after hiking prices by 50%

Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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