How to get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for little money!

Currently, players can pay just $ 1 to access hundreds of titles on PC and Xbox through Microsoft. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service, but don’t activate that insanely cheap month-long trial yet. You can block up to three years of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate with that same dollar if you play your cards right.

(Updated 11/26/2021: This cheat still works as of November 26, 2021.)

When you activate the Microsoft promotion, not only does the trial start, but it also converts existing Xbox Live Gold and standard Xbox Game Pass subscriptions in your account to Game Pass Ultimate (typically $ 15 per month) at a 1: 1 rate. Any prepaid time up to a maximum of three years gets the upgrade.

Want to charge Xbox Live Gold at a discount? Keep an eye out for sales at Newegg, which has been dropping the price of a 1 year subscription at $ 50Remove non-product link about every 2-3 weeks, and I did it again on Nov 26. (You can set a sale alert for “xbox live” at Slickdeals.net to receive an email or automatic notifications of future offers). If you can get codes at that price, you will have spent a little over $ 4 a month on Ultimate!

If you only have three months of Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass (or a combination of the two) on your account, you will end up with three months for your Game Pass Ultimate subscription, plus the additional month of added trial. upon. Similarly, 36 months of prepaid time transforms into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for a full three years.

Cross-platform gamers obviously benefit quite a bit from this deal, as Game Pass Ultimate includes Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass for PC. You’ll get unlimited access to a full range of titles on all platforms, including upcoming aura, Gears of warand other releases of Microsoft’s own PC games.

But even gamers who exclusively play on PC benefit: Although Xbox Game Pass for PC only initially cost $ 5 per month, that price lasted only during the beta period, which ended on September 16, 2020.

Loading an account with three years of Xbox Live Gold ($ 180) and then converting it to Game Pass Ultimate for an additional $ 1 essentially locks in that $ 5 per month fee for three years, which far outlives the price of the beta period. . (You should be able to do this conversion trick if you participated in the Xbox Game Pass beta for PC.)

Afterwards, you can still convert Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass memberships to Game Pass Ultimate, but in a prorated amount.

Read on for a step-by-step guide on how to secure this deal, including tips on how to maximize your savings.

How to Convert Xbox Live Gold (or Xbox Game Pass) to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

Step 1

Decide how long you want Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. To get the most out of the offer, get as close to three years of Xbox Live Gold (or Xbox Live Gold + standard Xbox Game Pass) as possible, which is the maximum amount of time you can pay upfront.

Add months to an Xbox Live Gold subscription using digital subscription codes purchased from Microsoft or another retailer (Amazon, Newegg, objective, etc.). Increase the time on Xbox Live Gold, not standard Xbox Game Pass, because it is the cheapest option.

Note: Microsoft stopped selling 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscriptions on its website during the summer of 2020, but third-party retailers (such as Newegg, objective, etc.) still sells them for now.

Add time in the largest possible increments – a 12-month code for Gold is much cheaper per month than the one-month, three-month, and six-month varieties. When purchasing codes, always remember that Microsoft’s servers will not allow you to redeem a code for a duration that exceeds the 36-month limit. (Example: you are 34 months old, but you are trying to redeem a three month code. The servers will not allow you to activate it). Multi-day trial short codes for Xbox Live Gold will not work for this promotion, such as those for three days or two weeks.

WARNING: If you buy three 1-year subscriptions, do not activate recurring billing while redeeming the codes. Any additional gift months you get for doing so will make it impossible to redeem the final code.

Advice:

• Don’t forget that this $ 1 Game Pass Ultimate promotion includes one month of service in addition to any amount of Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass subscription time you convert. However, you won’t get the full month if you put it above the 36-month limit.

• When redeem an Xbox Live Gold digital subscription code, accepting recurring billing will get you an additional month free. If you disable recurring billing Before redeeming your next code, you can continue to take advantage of this bonus. (Do not do this if you are redeeming three 1-year codes, the system will refuse to allow you to redeem the final code because it will put you over the limit).

  To verify that you have disabled recurring billing, go to Services and subscriptions section of your account information. Under “Xbox Game Pass Ultimate”, you will see an expiration date for your subscription and the option to the right will say “Enable recurring billing.”

• Microsoft Reward Members with balances of 30,000 points or more you should also check if there is a 12-month Xbox Live Gold option for them. Nothing is sweeter than a free way to maximize a deal.
• Buying discount codes will increase your savings. Costco is best for people who have a membership and need a 12 month codeRemove non-product link, weather CDKeys offers a modest discount available to all and sells 1-, 3-, 6-, and 12-month codes.
• Before purchasing any digital subscription code, incorporate any of the above gifts or bonuses that you may earn into your calculations.
  

  Example: It takes 17 months to maximize. (You already have 16 months of Xbox Live Gold and 3 months of Xbox Game Pass active on your account.) As a Costco member who also has a surplus of Microsoft rewards points, you buy a 12-month code and then use the points to earn a single 3-month code. Then you will get two bonus months by choosing recurring billing when you redeem each code. The $ 1 Game Pass Ultimate trial will be added to the last month needed to reach a total of 27.

• Note that a 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription ($ 15) is also on sale. Depending on your region and current Xbox Live Gold sales, this may be cheaper than purchasing a 3-month subscription code for Gold by maximizing the duration of your subscription.
  

  Example: It takes 28 months to maximize. You’re a Costco member and you purchase a 24-month Xbox Live Gold code, then choose recurring billing when you redeem the code. You are now 25 months old, so if you activate a 3-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you will get the last three months you need. (This tip expired at the end of 2019).

Step 2

Activate your Xbox Live Gold codes. Again, as a final reminder, if you have three 1-year subscription codes for Xbox Live, no agree to recurring billing to redeem your final code.

If you’re using a mosaic of different codes, triple-check your calculations to make sure you know how many times (if any) you should accept recurring billing.

UPS: Had three 1-year XBL Gold codes and accidentally made it impossible to redeem that final code? You can wait a month or two before redeeming code n. 3, or wait to activate it after updating to Game Pass Ultimate. You can then redeem it on a pro-rata basis to extend your Ultimate subscription.

Step 3

Activate the $ 1 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Trial. (You can also do this through the Store on an Xbox One console.)

You will have two screens to go through. The first one, shown on the right, explains how the conversion works if you already have an active Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass. (Which you should, if you followed the instructions in Step 2).

The second that follows will ask for billing information to process the $ 1 charge for the one-month Game Pass Ultimate trial.

You should now see “Xbox Game Pass Ultimate” listed Services and subscriptions on your Microsoft account page. By default, your Game Pass Ultimate subscription will be set to recurring billing. We suggest that you disable this option, so that you are not caught by surprise when your subscription expires (especially if that is three years from now). You can do this by clicking “Manage” to the right of your billing information.

Outside of that, you are good to go. Enjoy!

Alaina Yee is PCWorld’s resident bargain hunter; When it doesn’t cover building PCs, computer components, mini PCs, and more, you’re looking for the best tech deals. Previously, his work appeared in PC Gamer, IGN, Maximum PC, and Official Xbox Magazine. You can find her on Twitter at @morphingball.