Xbox Game Pass is one of the best deals out there for gamers, offering a monthly subscription fee to access a catalog of games, and clever shoppers have found a way to get it for a whopping 52% discount locked in for two years. This trick was confirmed to be working as of Jan 4 by PC World.

Get ready, it’s a little tricky so you may need to dust off your math skills.

The exploit works because of Microsft’s multiple tiers of subscription. When you have some amount of Game Pass Core (formerly Xbox Live Gold) or standard Game Pass access in your account and then buy any amount of Game Pass Ultimate, your existing time will convert to Ultimate time at a 3:2 ratio.

Despite it not being quite as good as it used to be, this still works out at an excellent saving. One month of Game Pass Ultimate currently costs $17, but one month of Game Pass Core is just $10. So three months of Game Pass Core for $30 becomes two months of Game Pass Ultimate, which would have cost $34, but you can get much better savings by buying in chunks.

The conversion also works with other Game Pass subscription types including PC Game Pass and normal Game Pass, so make sure the total including those that you have to convert does not exceed 36 months. If you have a few months of regular Game Pass in your account, you can still do the conversion, it just won’t work out at quite the same value.

How do you get cheap Game Pass Ultimate?

If you want to get the maximum available Game Pass Ultimate for the best price, it will cost you $197 upfront.

  1. Buy three lots of one year of Game Pass Core – (3 x 60 = $180)
  2. Redeem them into your Xbox account. You might get offered free time for turning on recurring billing but you should not do this because the account caps out at three years of Game Pass Core and using the $60 1-year passes is better value than getting a free month and then patchworking the remaining 11 together.
  3. Buy one month of Game Pass Ultimate – $17 (17 +180 = new total of $197)
  4. When prompted, agree to convert your Game Pass Core into Game Pass Ultimate

36 months of Game Pass Core at $180 converts to 24 months of Game Pass Ultimate with a value of $408. By paying just $197 you save over 50% on the cost of Game Pass Ultimate. This works out at around $8.20 per month of Game Pass Ultimate – an even better deal than even PC Game Pass.

Remember, the maximum amount of Xbox Game Pass Core you can load onto your account to convert is 36 months so make sure you don’t buy more than this if you already have any Game Pass Core in your account.

When you consider the value you get from Game Pass and the huge range of games added monthly, this is a bargain you can’t afford to miss.

Featured image: Anthony/Pexels

Ali Rees

Freelance journalist

Ali Rees is a freelance writer based in the UK. They have worked as a data and analytics consultant, a software tester, and a digital marketing and SEO specialist. They have been a keen gamer and tech enthusiast since their childhood in are currently the Gaming and Tech editor at Brig Newspaper. They also have a Substack where they review short video games. During the pandemic, Ali turned their hand to live streaming and is a fan of Twitch. When not writing, Ali enjoys playing video and board games, live music, and reading. They have two cats and both of them are idiots.