Xbox Game Pass is no doubt worth the monthly cost, especially since you can get a trial version of it for $1. However, said trial has now had its length slashed, and some may think it a strange coincidence this has happened just before Starfield gets released.
Turns out, instead of a cheap introductory offer that provides access to the Xbox gaming service for one month, you now only get half the time. First spotted by Kotaku reporter Ethan Gach over on Twitter, the Game Pass trial now only lasts two weeks.
Microsoft has nerfed its $1 Game Pass trial again.
It's now for just 14 days instead of a full month.
The change happened sometime in the last week. https://t.co/oAfQrRRBBH pic.twitter.com/g2MmVypThH
— AmericanTruckSongs9 (@ethangach) August 8, 2023
Indeed, if you head over to the Xbox Game Pass page, you can see that 14 days is all you’ll get now for that first dollar. After that, you’ll be paying the full rate.
Is Starfield the reason?
We can’t say for certain why the trial period has been halved, but with Starfield just around the corner, this could be one of the reasons.
Seeing as Bethesda’s much-anticipated sci-fi RPG will be on Game Pass from day one, it’s possible Microsoft doesn’t want people playing it for just $1. The game launches on September 6, so the new trial of the Xbox service would end long before it launches.
This is just speculation, of course, but you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who didn’t think Starfield had something to do with the reduced trial period. The fact that it’s not been mentioned on the official Game Pass Twitter page makes it seem like this change was done on the quiet.
In any case, now you’ll only get the first 14 days for the introductory $1 price tag. That includes the Ultimate and PC packages as well, according to the website.
