Amazon still has one-month codes available for $19.99, which is now effectively a $10 discount.

You can also purchase three-month codes at effectively the same rate, $59.99 each. The max you can fill out your account with is 12, which costs $719.88 in total ($239.96 per year).

Now that's a lot, and I'm never going to recommend you suddenly shell out over $700 on a subscription service, certainly not in this economy. But it's still worth being honest about the numbers and how much it does cost to avoid a price hike by paying upfront while you can.

Comparatively, at the new rate, three years of Game Pass Ultimate will now cost $1,079.64 if paying the new $29.99 rate monthly.

Buying in now (i.e. paying $719.88 to stack codes) does save a total of $359.76 (effectively almost an extra year covered), yet it's unlikely any of us will want to pay so much for a service that's just wacked its prices up (again, and then again).

If anything, this is just good to know if you want to cover yourself for even just the next 12 months, paying $239.96 instead of $359.88.

Xbox Game Pass Tier and Price Changes, October 2025:

• Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: $29.99 a month, up from $19.99 a month
• Xbox Game Pass Premium: $14.99 a month, the same as the old Standard subscription
• Xbox Game Pass Essential: $9.99 a month, the same as the old Core subscription
• PC Game Pass: $16.49 a month, up from $11.99

The updated pricing goes into effect today, October 1 for new subscribers, and November 4 for current subscribers.

As part of the announcement, Microsoft added more than 45 new games to Game Pass. Check out the full list here.

Robert Anderson is Senior Commerce Editor and IGN's resident deals expert on games, collectibles, trading card games, and more. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter/X or Bluesky.