How to save up to $358.67 on an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription

Photo by Jose Gil on Unsplash

Are you the proud owner of Microsoft’s next-gen Series S or X console and want to sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate? Read on if you would like to save $$$ yearly on the premium monthly subscription.

Game Pass Ultimate is Gold’s successor and packs a punch in overall benefits. The subscription renews monthly for $14.99 and gives users access to the ecosystem’s best features spread across Console, PC, or Mobile.

Here’s where things get interesting. Microsoft will upgrade your Xbox Gold membership subscription time to Game Pass Ultimate on a 1:1 ratio.

The purchase of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate automatically upgrades your existing Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass (for PC or Console), and or EA Play membership(s) to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at a conversion ratio each based on days remaining — source.

Hypothetical Case

I tested the following method on a new account with no previous membership history. I purchased three $59.99 12-months subscriptions of Xbox Gold. Microsoft’s conversion upgrade works for up to 36-months.

You could alternatively stack 1-month, 3-months, and 6-months subscription codes.

36-months of Xbox Gold = $179.97
36-months of Game Pass Ultimate = $539.64

After stacking the subscription time to my account, I purchased and redeemed the $1 upgrade for a 1-month code. This add-on upgraded my 36-months of Xbox Gold to Game Pass Ultimate on a 1:1 ratio.

I saved $358.67.

Photo by Sam Pak on Unsplash

Future code redemptions are also subject to a conversion ratio. Conversion ratio subject to change. All conversions to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are final: Once converted, you cannot re-convert your Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership back to a previous membership.

Maximum 36 months of redeemed Xbox Game Pass Ultimate per account at a time, including any converted time from Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass (for PC or Console), and/or EA Play. Game titles, number, features, and availability vary over time, by region and platform.

Photo by Billy Freeman on Unsplash

Testimonials from around the web (unconfirmed)

Did this last week. Bought a two year prepaid subscription to Gold from Costco for $95 ($102 after tax). That combined with the two remaining months I had of Game Pass from the recent $1 for three months promo and the remainder of my previous Gold subscription came out to 32 months of Ultimate for essentially $104ish. Figured I might as well get in on the ground floor and lock in an insanely low price before everything inevitably goes up. Now I don’t have to worry about that until February 2022.

Took advantage of this the other day. Purchased two additional year long subscriptions of Live Gold from cdkeys.com for $50 each. Added them to my Xbox account, then purchased the $1 promo deal. I now have 3 years of Ultimate for only $101. Crazy!

Bonus tip: when you apply any new Gold time cards, say yes to auto-renewal and you get 13 months added instead of 12.

Please leave a comment if this worked for you. I’m currently procuring a Series X and will test this method when I get one.

Thanks for reading!