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Xbox has hiked the price of some of its game passes – and added new benefits.

The subscription service gives users unlimited access to hundreds of games, with some plans also offering one-day releases to new titles and exclusive discounts.

There are four plans to choose from: Essential, Premium, Ultimate and PC.

The Essential and Premium models are new versions of the current Core and Standard subscriptions and will cost the same at £6.99 and £10.99 a month, but will come with more perks (more on that shortly).

The Ultimate subscription is jumping from £14.99 a month to £22.99, and the PC option is going from £9.99 to £13.49.

The Essential plan now includes unlimited cloud gaming, online multiplayer, in-game benefits and rewards with Xbox, plus a curated catalogue of 50+ games playable on both console and PC.

Premium subscribers can access more than 200 games, including Minecraft, Grand Theft Auto V and Diablo IV, on their Xbox, PC and supported devices.

They’ll also get unlimited cloud gaming, new in-game benefits and the chance to earn rewards with Xbox.

Ultimate customers get hundreds of high-quality games on console, PC and cloud, access to new games as soon as they’re released, an EA Play membership, a Ubisoft+ Classics subscription and exclusive deals and discounts.

Under the PC plan, you can play hundreds of games on your PC, access new games on the first day they are released, an EA Play membership and exclusive deals.

You can see a full list of the games available today under each of the plans here.

Is it time to ditch the subscription?

Andrew Laughlin, Which? tech expert, said: “Many gamers will be questioning whether or not their Game Pass is worth it following this announcement from Microsoft that subscriptions will go up by more than 50%. This also follows a previous price hike only last year.

“This will seem particularly unfair for the many subscribers who bought into the latest generation of Xbox consoles because of Game Pass. Now they face paying almost £100 more a year to get the best it has to offer.

“If you’re currently a subscriber, you’ll want to weigh up how much use you actually get from the service. It might be time to ditch the subscription and buy the games outright or shop around for deals on Game Pass Ultimate passes to make a saving.”