Microsoft Secretly Devalued Xbox Game Pass Conversions

Back in June, Microsoft announced that the price of Xbox Game Pass subscription service would be increasing by $2 per month. That price hike officially went into effect on July 6. For many users, this wasn't a big deal, as it's been something of an open secret for several years now that you can purchase Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and convert them to Game Pass for a discounted rate. However, it seems Microsoft has decided to exert greater control over this exploit, leaving it in place while devaluing it.

Last Friday, the day after the Game Pass price hikes went into effect, Reddit users began posting to the Xbox subreddit that their attempts to convert Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass were producing diminished returns. As it turns out, alongside the hikes, Microsoft quietly devalued the Gold to Game Pass conversion rate, downgrading it from 1:1 to 3:2. While the conversion trick is still possible, it no longer yields as many months of Xbox Game Pass service, which could prove to be disincentivizing for some users.

Previously, Xbox users could purchase up to 36 months of Xbox Live Gold service, then one month of Game Pass Ultimate to automatically convert all of their accumulated months to Game Pass Ultimate. According to the recently-updated Xbox Support page, however, this is no longer the case. With the new rules, Xbox Live Gold subscriptions now convert to Game Pass at a 3:2 ratio. This means, for example, if you were to convert three full years of Xbox Live Gold, or 1,095 days, you would only receive two full years of Game Pass, or 730 days.

PSA: 1:1 Gold to GPU seems to be gone
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Ratio changes have also been applied to upgrading from regular Game Pass to Game Pass Ultimate, as well as upgrading EA Play to Game Pass Ultimate. In the former case, service converts at a 4:3 ratio (90 days to 68 days), while in the latter case, service converts at a 3:1 ratio (90 days to 30 days).

Going by these new rules, you would receive two years of Game Pass Ultimate service by purchasing three years of Xbox Live Gold for approximately $180, along with one month of Game Pass Ultimate for $16.99. This is still cheaper than the $408 it would cost to buy two years of Game Pass Ultimate outright, but it definitely isn't as attractive of a deal as the old conversion rates were.