Does the upcoming price hike for the Xbox Game Pass have you questioning whether it’s time to cancel your long-running subscription? I feel ya; I cancelled mine last year. My Xbox subscription predated the launch of the Game Pass, dating back to when Xbox Live Gold first became available for my original Xbox console in late 2003. That’s right, after paying for a monthly subscription for over two decades, I cancelled my Ultimate subscription due to a $3 price increase. But was it the right choice, and will it be the right choice for you? I can tell you there are plenty of Game Pass alternatives that can keep your gaming budget under control, and you could even game the entire year for free.
Drop Down A Tier
Let’s be fair – even at $30/month, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still a good value proposition for many people. I can’t say whether that includes you, because it depends on your personal use. Before you cancel Game Pass outright, consider downgrading your tier. Microsoft’s new lineup of Essential, Premium, and Ultimate plans gives you some wiggle room. If you mostly play on console and don’t use cloud or day-one releases, the lower tiers might cover what you actually need at a fraction of the cost. Sometimes the smart move isn’t cutting ties, it’s cutting the extras you don’t use.
Prime Gaming
I’m not suggesting that Prime Gaming is a complete Xbox Game Pass alternative, but if you already have an Amazon Prime membership, you can enjoy Prime Gaming at no additional cost. If you are willing to make some sacrifices, you could even game all month long for free! So let’s look at what you get with Prime Gaming.
Free Games: If you are a PC gamer, you can grab some free games every month through Prime Gaming. Each week, you can claim codes for games on a variety of platforms, including the Amazon Games App, GoG, Epic Games Store, and more. Not every game is a AAA banger, and many aren’t even from this decade. Still, there are some hidden gems that can expand your game library, and unlike Game Pass, these games are yours to keep forever.
Amazon Luna: Prime members get access to a curated selection of games on Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service. Even though your Prime membership doesn’t grant you access to the full Luna+ library, you’ll find plenty of hits – Borderlands 4, Lawn Mowing Simulator, and Farming Simulator 22 are just a few of the current titles. And since Luna is a cloud service, you can play even the most demanding titles on your smart TV or Amazon’s Fire TV Stick. And if you have an older PC, streaming demanding games from the cloud may improve the experience. Just remember that this is a rotating selection, so your favorite game may drop off the list at any time.
Steam Sales
If you are willing to skip playing a game on day one, then you can save a considerable amount of money by waiting for it to pop up in one of Steam’s many sales. The days of waiting months or years for a game to go on sale are over. We’ve seen AAA titles drop in price just weeks after their release, and we aren’t just talking about games that tanked. For example, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 (92% positive rating), DOOM: The Dark Ages (85%), and F1 25 (84%) were released in the last 6-8 months and are all 30% off as of October 3rd.
Epic Games Store
Like Steam, the Epic Games Store (EGS) is a digital marketplace backed by, you guessed it, Epic Games. You will find similar pricing on Steam and EGS, with sales popping off all the time. EGS lacks many of the features that Steam offers, such as player reviews and community support, which can be considered a positive or a negative depending on your personal view. I prefer to keep my main game library on one platform, and since I already had an extensive Steam library when EGS launched, I prefer to buy my games on Steam. I still grab an EGS exclusive if I’m not willing to wait for the Steam launch.
Even though I’ve only purchased a handful of games through the store, I still visit EGS every week. You see, ever since the launch of EGS on December 6, 2018, it has offered up at least one free game a week, yours to keep forever. Although some of the games are junk I’ll probably never play, EGS has given away plenty of fantastic AAA games, and I have enjoyed some games I never would have played if I had to pay for them. I’ve collected over 300 titles so far (and I have missed plenty along the way), so if I ever made the effort to work through all of the free games I’ve gotten from EGS, I could probably play for years without ever having to spend a dime.
Humble Game Store
While I don’t recommend Humble if you are looking for the best deal on new AAA titles, if you’re feeling a little adventurous, Humble is worth a look. You can find older games at great prices, and they even have sections for deals under $5, $10, and $20 to speed up your search. But the real reason to check out Humble is Humble Choice and Humble Bundle.
Humble Choice: For $14.99 a month, a Humble Choice membership offers you a curated mix of games that are yours to keep for life. Like Prime Gaming, the game codes are sourced from popular services such as Steam and GoG. The games are hit or miss each month, but you can pause or cancel your membership at any time and still keep the titles you already earned.
Humble Bundle: The real gem of the Humble Store, Humble Bundles are themed, limited-time bundles that allow you to set your own price. Paying the minimum price – usually $5 – $8 – will get you two or three of the games in a bundle, while higher thresholds will add additional titles. Purchasing an entire bundle usually averages out to less than $2 per game, and you’ll feel good knowing that a portion of the purchase price will go to charity.
GoG, Green Man Gaming, and Other Discount Game Sites
PC-focused retailers such as Green Man Gaming and GOG frequently offer discounts on new releases and bundles. I know what you’re thinking: these sites are sketchy and are selling fake discount codes. While there are some bad actors out there, both GMG and GOG (and others) are legit sites to get real codes. GOG, in particular, is great for DRM-free downloads, meaning you truly own what you buy.
Free to Play Games
Microtransactions and pay-to-win mechanics turn a lot of people away from free-to-play games, and if you’re not careful, it’s possible to nickel and dime yourself into spending more than the price of an annual subscription to Xbox Game Pass faster than you can say “loot box.” With a little bit of constraint, though, it is possible to keep your spending in check, and some F2P titles can be enjoyed without ever spending a dime. Don’t believe me? Here’s a short list of titles that could keep you busy for months on little to no money:
- Fortnite
- Warframe
- Path of Exile
- Rocket League
- Guild Wars 2 (and many other MMOs)
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Marvel Rivals
Free-Play Days and Demos
Developers use free-play days and demos to give you a glimpse at their game in the hope that you will purchase the full release. I take advantage of these free trials to keep my costs down. If I’m interested in a game, a demo or free weekend of play can help me determine if I really want the game, and at what price I would be willing to pay for it. If I fall in love with the game, it may become one of the few titles I buy at full price for the year. More likely, I either add it to my wishlist and wait for a discount, or realize the game isn’t what I thought it was and avoid spending money on it entirely.
Early Access and Beta Tests
If you don’t mind dealing with a little jank, then early access and beta tests are a cheap way to get a game ahead of launch. While some of these opportunities can be free, more often than not, you’ll have to pay to gain access to these games, even though they are in a pre-release state. The savings to be made are that developers usually price their early access and beta tests at a lower price than the expected retail version, plus they often add in some exclusive bonuses, like free cosmetic items, to sweeten the pot.
There is a risk here, though. Some games never leave early access, and you won’t get a refund if the developer goes belly up or stops development on the game. And depending on the current state of the game, you could be in for months (or years) of buggy or incomplete gameplay, development decisions that can greatly alter the game’s direction or change up mechanics that you are familiar with, and server wipes that erase any progress you’ve made.
