"Two words: cancel now" - Xbox Game Pass cancelations seemingly surge following Microsoft's tone-deaf post praising "more rewards" amid 50% price hike, and even GameStop's got jokes: "$29.99 every month. Own nothing"

Amid worldwide economic turmoil, Microsoft has jacked up the price of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions again, this time by 50% for Ultimate, and people are rightfully responding with jokes at its expense as well as cancelations.

To be clear, Ultimate is the only Game Pass subscription tier that's having its price increased, but as my colleague Dustin so eloquently phrases it in his writeup of Microsoft's announcement, it's also "the only tier of Game Pass that really matters" because it's the only one that gives day one access to big new releases like The Outer Worlds 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Despite Xbox's efforts to frame this as an overall upgrade to the service with some new perks you probably don't care about, this is nothing but a good old fashioned price hike - a huge one at that - and people are seemingly rushing to cancel their subscriptions at such a pace that the website you visit to do so was briefly "overloaded," according to Wario64 on Twitter.

In response to an ill-timed tweet from Xbox touting "MORE. REWARDS" with a graphic of the new Game Pass subscription tiers, players are mercilessly mocking Microsoft, threatening to cancel subscriptions in droves, and in some cases, leaving receipts saying they really did cancel.

When even GameStop, which itself doesn't have the most sterling reputation in the games industry, is dogpiling on you, you have to know you've really messed up. The retailer seemingly clowned Microsoft with a direct reference to Game Pass and its new $30 per month price tag, saying you "own nothing" by subscribing, and that when you "buy once" from GameStop, you "own forever."

Despite record profits, streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, and Amazon Prime continue upping prices on consumers, likely partially in response to historic inflation. Pretty much the only tool the average person has at their disposal to fight back is the choice to subscribe or not subscribe. Money talks, and if the message is loud and clear enough, companies will often make compromises or reverse course altogether.

Meanwhile, Xbox president says Game Pass is profitable and good for creators, despite alleged division over the subscription model.