Microsoft cancels long-running £1 Game Pass offer

Microsoft has cancelled its introductory Game Pass offer, which allowed fans to buy a month of Xbox or PC Game Pass for just £1.

While the introductory offer has been available since Xbox Game Pass launched in 2017, Microsoft has confirmed that it is no longer available for fans to buy.

In a statement to The Verge, Kari Perez – head of global communications at Xbox – said: “We have stopped our previous introductory offer for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass and are evaluating different marketing promotions for new members in the future.”

Last year, Microsoft announced a Family & Friends plan for Game Pass, which allows up to five people to share a subscription. When it was announced, the company confirmed that it would cost £19, compared to Ultimate’s existing price of £11.25.

However, the Friends & Family service is currently only available in eight countries — Sweden, New Zealand, Ireland, Colombia, Chile, Hungary, South Africa and Israel.

The company has also reportedly been gauging interest in a cheaper, ad-supported version of the subscription service.

The lower-tier subscription would get access to Microsoft’s first-party games six months after launch, while players would need to sit through adverts before opening a game through the service.

Back in February, Microsoft claimed that Game Pass harmed the direct sale of games in its library.

The comments were made to the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is currently investigating Microsoft’s proposed £50billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard and the impact it would have on competition in the game industry.

Last week, the watchdog found that Microsoft’s acquisition won’t result in a “substantial lessening of competition in console gaming services,” though its investigation into its effect on the cloud gaming market continues.

In other gaming news, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is being turned into a dark action game in the style of God Of War.