Xbox Game Pass Essential eliminates the 12-month subscription

With the change of plans, users lose the annual option and are limited to 1 or 3 months.

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The transition of Xbox Game Pass to its new plans Essential, Premium, and Ultimate has not only brought a change of name, catalog, and prices, but also an important modification in the subscription modes. In the case of Essential, which replaces the old Game Pass Core, the 12-month option has disappeared completely.

This means that, from now on, players will only be able to purchase 1 month or 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Essential, with no possibility of securing a full year of service as was previously possible with Core. At the time, the annual plan was particularly attractive for those who preferred to pay once and forget about renewals for the entire year.

Current Xbox Game Pass Essential Options

• 1 month – available.

• 3 months – available.

• ❌ 12 months – removed.

What does this change imply?

In practice, Essential users now have less flexibility to renew for the long term. The elimination of the annual plan forces users to manage their subscription in shorter periods, something that not all players view favorably. While Premium and Ultimate maintain their usual 1-month plans, Essential is left as the only option with a 3-month pack, but without an annual alternative.

At Generación Xbox, we will be watching to see if Microsoft reconsiders this move in the future, as many users valued the savings and convenience of being able to contract 12 months at once.