Short answer: Microsoft’s Game Pass cancellation and account-management pages appeared to buckle under a surge of users after the U.S. price of Game Pass Ultimate jumped from $19.99 to $29.99 per month on October 1, 2025. Reports and outlet testing established widespread errors and difficulty completing cancellations, but not an officially confirmed outage or a verified count of same-day cancellations. In June 2026, Xbox executive Matthew Ball reportedly said Game Pass had lost “millions” of subscribers in the months after the increase.
The U.S. price later changed again: on April 21, 2026, Ultimate fell to $22.99 per month and PC Game Pass to $13.99. That means the original $29.99 price is historical, not current.
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What happened on October 1, 2025?
Microsoft announced a restructuring of Xbox Game Pass on October 1, 2025, alongside a 50% increase in the U.S. monthly price of Game Pass Ultimate. The price rose from $19.99 to $29.99 per month. The change also reorganized the service around Essential, Premium, Ultimate and PC offerings.
As subscribers tried to cancel, downgrade or inspect their subscriptions, users reported errors and pages that failed to load subscription information. PCWorld reported that Microsoft’s account-management page struggled, while Windows Central described difficulty loading the cancellation page.
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The most accurate description is that the cancellation page appeared overloaded during a wave of subscription activity. Microsoft did not, in the available reporting, publish an incident report confirming that a capacity failure was caused specifically by mass cancellations.
What is confirmed—and what is not?
| Claim | What the evidence supports |
|---|---|
| The cancellation page crashed | Users and outlets reported errors and difficulty loading or using Microsoft’s subscription pages. “Appeared overloaded” is safer than a definitive claim that Microsoft’s servers crashed. |
| Millions cancelled on October 1 | Not established. The reports showed a visible surge in attempts, not a verified number of successful cancellations. |
| Game Pass lost millions of subscribers | In June 2026, Matthew Ball reportedly said Game Pass lost “millions” in the months following the price increase. That statement should be attributed to Ball. |
| Microsoft intentionally blocked cancellations | No evidence supports that allegation. |
These distinctions matter. A cancellation attempt is not necessarily a successful cancellation, and a page error does not reveal how many people were trying to leave. “Churn” can include cancellations, downgrades and lapsed subscriptions; it also does not prove that every former subscriber left permanently.
Why did the price increase trigger such a reaction?
The October 2025 change was more than a price adjustment. Microsoft emphasized additional Ultimate benefits including Fortnite Crew, EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics content, expanded cloud-gaming features, queue priority, Microsoft Rewards opportunities and day-one game releases. Whether that package justified the increase depended heavily on how each subscriber used Game Pass.
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A console player who regularly plays new releases, uses online multiplayer and benefits from several bundled services could see more value than someone who plays one or two owned games. PC-only subscribers, cloud players and multi-platform households likewise faced different trade-offs. The headline increase was 50% only for the U.S. Ultimate price, not for every plan or country.
The later subscriber-loss evidence
The cancellation-page reports initially showed user activity and apparent strain, not a verified cancellation total. The later evidence was more consequential: Pure Xbox reported in June 2026 that Xbox Chief Strategy Officer Matthew Ball said Game Pass lost “millions” of subscribers after the October price increase. Windows Central and TrueAchievements also reported the claim.
That figure should not be rewritten as “millions cancelled on October 1.” It appears to describe subscriber losses over the following months, and the available reporting does not establish how many subscribers downgraded, later returned or stopped permanently. It does, however, provide stronger support for the conclusion that the price increase produced substantial longer-term churn.
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What Game Pass costs now in the U.S.
Microsoft later revised the offer. In an April 21, 2026 Xbox Wire announcement, Microsoft said:
| Plan or event | U.S. monthly price |
|---|---|
| Ultimate before October 2025 | $19.99 |
| Ultimate after October 2025 increase | $29.99 |
| Ultimate after April 21, 2026 adjustment | $22.99 |
| PC Game Pass after April 21, 2026 adjustment | $13.99 |
Prices can vary by country, taxes, billing channel and plan availability. Microsoft also said future Call of Duty releases would join Game Pass during the following holiday season rather than at launch, while existing Call of Duty games already in the library would remain available. The price reduction may reflect customer feedback and subscriber losses, but the available evidence does not prove that churn was the sole reason for the change.
How to cancel Xbox Game Pass
For a subscription billed directly by Microsoft:
- Open Microsoft’s Services & subscriptions page.
- Sign in with the Microsoft account that purchased Game Pass.
- Find the Xbox or Game Pass subscription and select Manage.
- Choose Cancel, or follow the equivalent cancellation option shown.
- Read the final screen carefully. Microsoft may offer a downgrade instead of ending the subscription.
- Save the confirmation email and note the displayed expiration date.
If the page shows “Turn on recurring billing” instead of a cancellation control, Microsoft says recurring billing is generally already disabled. The subscription should expire on the date shown without another renewal charge. Confirm the date rather than assuming the account is cancelled.
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What to do if the cancellation page fails
- Wait and try again later instead of repeatedly submitting the same request.
- Use another browser, private browsing mode or a different device.
- Check that you are signed in to the account that actually owns the subscription.
- Look for an existing expiration date or the “Turn on recurring billing” message.
- If the subscription was bought through Apple, Google Play, a console retailer or another seller, manage it through that seller.
- Contact Microsoft subscription support and keep the case number.
Turning off recurring billing prevents a future renewal but is not automatically a refund request. A cancellation confirmation and a refund decision are separate outcomes.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Can you get a refund?
Not necessarily. Microsoft assesses refund eligibility during the cancellation process, and the result depends on factors including region, timing, purchase channel and subscription type. Microsoft’s refund policy describes circumstances in which a recent recurring charge may qualify, but readers should not assume that cancelling produces a prorated refund.
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Regional rules also differ. Microsoft’s published policy lists specific countries and territories where prorated Xbox subscription refunds may be available, while refunds are generally unavailable in other regions under that policy. Third-party purchases normally have to be refunded through the third-party seller.
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Should you keep, downgrade or cancel?
Use your actual play habits rather than the list price alone:
- Keep Ultimate if you regularly play new releases, use both Xbox and PC, rely on cloud gaming or would otherwise buy several included games each year.
- Consider a cheaper tier if you mainly need a smaller catalog or console multiplayer and do not use Ultimate’s extra services. Check the current benefits and price on the official Game Pass page, since names and benefits can change.
- Choose PC Game Pass if you are primarily a PC player and its catalog and release timing meet your needs. Its U.S. price was listed at $13.99 per month after April 21, 2026.
- Buy games individually if you play only a few titles annually and want permanent access. Compare the annual cost of the specific games you would actually buy; there is no universal cheaper option.
- Subscribe temporarily if you mainly want access around particular releases, then cancel recurring billing while checking the final access date.
The useful break-even question is simple: how many games will you play, on which devices, and would you otherwise purchase them? Perks such as EA Play, Fortnite Crew or cloud gaming matter only if you actually use them.
Bottom line
Xbox Game Pass users did produce a visible backlash after the October 2025 U.S. price increase, and Microsoft’s cancellation pages appeared to struggle under the resulting traffic. But the original reports did not prove that millions cancelled that day or that Microsoft officially confirmed a crash. The stronger later claim is that Game Pass lost millions of subscribers over the following months, according to Matthew Ball. The U.S. price also changed again in April 2026, so any current decision should be based on the $22.99 Ultimate price and the benefits Microsoft lists now—not the former $29.99 rate.
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