Whether Game Pass is worth it comes down to one number: how many games you actually finish in a year. From roughly four or five completed titles a year, a subscription works out better than buying; below that, you’re mostly paying for a library you never touch. The calculation below is based on plan prices in Czech koruna (CZK), because they’re the only part of the equation that can be documented – prices of individual games change from sale to sale, and there’s no single valid number for them.
What the subscription itself costs per year
The prices come from the Microsoft Store catalog for the Czech market, verified on 29 August 2026. The yearly column is simply twelve times the monthly price, because for most plans Microsoft either doesn’t offer a longer period or you practically save nothing with it.
| Plan | Monthly | Year paying monthly | Longer period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Pass Essential | CZK 239 | CZK 2,868 | 14-day trial for CZK 25.90 |
| Game Pass Premium | CZK 329 | CZK 3,948 | 14-day trial for CZK 25.90 |
| Game Pass Ultimate | CZK 499 | CZK 5,988 | 3 months CZK 1,499, 6 months CZK 2,999 |
| PC Game Pass | CZK 319 | CZK 3,828 | year CZK 3,829 |
| Game Pass for Console | CZK 269 | CZK 3,228 | year CZK 3,108, i.e. CZK 259 a month |
Two numbers in the table are worth a closer look. For Ultimate, the three-month and six-month options work out to CZK 499.67 and CZK 499.83 a month, and for PC Game Pass the yearly payment is one koruna more than twelve monthly ones. Of these five, only the console plan gives you a real discount for a longer period. What’s in each plan is covered in our overview of Game Pass plans and what they include.
What one finished game costs
The yearly price divided by the number of games you see through to the end in a year is the only metric you can calculate honestly. A purchased game’s price depends on the discount, the date and the store; a subscription has a fixed price.
| Games finished per year | Essential | Premium | PC Game Pass | Ultimate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | CZK 1,434 | CZK 1,974 | CZK 1,914 | CZK 2,994 |
| 4 | CZK 717 | CZK 987 | CZK 957 | CZK 1,497 |
| 8 | CZK 359 | CZK 494 | CZK 479 | CZK 749 |
| 12 | CZK 239 | CZK 329 | CZK 319 | CZK 499 |
The last row has a neat property: at twelve finished games a year, one game costs exactly as much as a month of the subscription. In other words, if you finish a game a month, each one costs you roughly CZK 200 to 500. If you finish two a year, you pay thousands for each.
Three types of players and how it works out for them
The player with two games on constant rotation
The typical case is someone who switches between one shooter and one sports title and practically never opens the catalog. Here the subscription doesn’t buy games, it buys access to online multiplayer in paid titles. The cheapest plan covers that, and CZK 2,868 a year is the whole cost.
There’s a scenario where even that is unnecessary, though. Free-to-play games on Xbox have supported online multiplayer without a subscription since 21 April 2021, when Microsoft switched it on for a library of around fifty titles. If you play only Fortnite, Warzone and similar titles, you don’t need Game Pass at all.
The player who switches around and can wait for new releases
This is the profile the subscription suits best. Six to ten finished games a year means roughly CZK 400 to 660 per title with Premium and roughly CZK 600 to 1,000 with Ultimate. Premium is more interesting here than it looks: new Xbox games are added to it within twelve months of release, so the CZK 170 a month difference compared to Ultimate mostly buys you not having to wait.
There’s a hidden cost the table won’t show: on a 512GB console, rotating games from the catalog turns into regular deleting and re-downloading. Storage differences are covered in the comparison of the Xbox Series X and Series S.
The player who wants new games on release day
This player is left with Ultimate on console or PC Game Pass on PC, because only these two plans have day-one games, including third-party titles. At CZK 5,988 a year, Ultimate pays off if it covers at least three or four big new releases you would otherwise buy at full price.
One exception can wreck the whole calculation. The day-one offer doesn’t apply to the Call of Duty series, which Microsoft states directly in a note on the plans. If you subscribe to Ultimate mainly for the new CoD, you’re wasting your money.
What happens when you cancel the subscription
Games from the library are on loan for the length of your membership. Microsoft describes this for titles from the former Games with Gold: Xbox One games stay accessible as long as the player is a member. The exception is Xbox 360 games from Games with Gold, which stay in your library permanently regardless of the subscription. Everything else from the catalog ends with your last paid month.
There’s one way out, and it costs money. Departing and selected titles from the library can be bought at up to 20% off, but only on the Ultimate, Game Pass for Console and PC Game Pass plans – Essential and Premium don’t get this discount. When it’s worth using and how to spot a title that’s leaving the service is covered in the piece on what’s in Game Pass and how to keep track of it. A purchased game is then a purchase tied to your account, not a catalog item, and if it doesn’t click, there’s a process for how to refund a game on Xbox.
When not to buy Game Pass
- You finish two games a year. With two titles, one game in Ultimate costs almost CZK 3,000, which is the price you’d simply pay to buy the game.
- You only play free-to-play. Online multiplayer in those doesn’t require a subscription, so you’re paying for a library you won’t open.
- You’re getting it instead of a console. Cloud gaming is included in Essential, Premium and Ultimate, but not in PC Game Pass at all, and from November 2026 Microsoft is planning monthly hour caps for it. How to start a stream is explained in the guide to Xbox Cloud Gaming, and if you want to stream your own games instead of a catalog, you’ll be comparing GeForce NOW plans and Boosteroid instead.
- You’re buying it for one particular series. Day-one access doesn’t cover Call of Duty, and games outside the catalog aren’t covered at all.
You can try it cheaply. The catalog offers a fourteen-day trial of Essential, Premium and PC Game Pass for CZK 25.90, so in two weeks you can find out how many games from the library you actually launch, and only then plan a year ahead.
FAQ
Roughly four to five. With four finished games, one costs CZK 717 in Essential, CZK 987 in Premium and CZK 1,497 in Ultimate, which is already below the usual price of a new game. Below four titles a year, the subscription turns into a fee for a catalog you barely open.
Not with Ultimate. Three months for CZK 1,499 and six for CZK 2,999 work out to CZK 499.67 and CZK 499.83 a month, practically the same as paying monthly. A yearly PC Game Pass for CZK 3,829 is even one koruna more than twelve months. Only the yearly console plan gives a real discount.
Catalog titles stop being accessible, because they’re on loan for the length of your membership. Only Xbox 360 games claimed through Games with Gold in the past stay permanently. The only way to keep a specific game is to buy it, and on three plans you get up to 20% off.
No. Microsoft states in a note on the plans that the day-one offer doesn’t apply to the Call of Duty series. This also applies to Ultimate and PC Game Pass, the plans that otherwise get new games on release day. It’s not worth buying the subscription for the new CoD.
For paid games on console, yes; all three console plans include online multiplayer. For free-to-play titles, no. Microsoft exempted them from the subscription requirement on 21 April 2021, so Fortnite and similar games work online without a membership.
Plan prices changed several times during 2026, so check the amount in your account before you buy. How much the hardware itself adds on top of the subscription is calculated in the piece on how much an Xbox costs and what’s included, the PlayStation counterpart is our overview of PS Plus plans, and more articles on the service are in the Xbox section on Gamers Together. Information verified as of 29 August 2026.
Thumbnail photo: AsmodeanUnderscore, CC BY 4.0.