Microsoft has paused the Game Pass trial offer ahead of Starfield launch

Earlier this year, Microsoft officially ended its $1/£1 free trial offer for new Xbox Game Pass subscribers. The deal returned shortly after but it has now been tweaked again, shortening the trial period to two weeks. Now, just days ahead of Starfield's launch, the trial offer has been removed again. 

When Microsoft first ended the $1 Game Pass trial, it stated that it would be evaluating new promotions in the future. The offer was reintroduced this summer and a few weeks ago, was tweaked again to cut the trial period down from a full month to two weeks. Now as spotted by Eurogamer, Microsoft has removed the trial option from the Game Pass sign-up page.

All of these tweaks have arrived just ahead of Starfield's launch. Those with a Game Pass membership can pay £34.99 to upgrade to the premium edition and get five days of early access, or play the standard version of the game at release. Given that Microsoft wants to maximise Starfield's earnings potential, it is easy to see why Microsoft may want to pause the trial offer around the game's launch.

Moving forward, I think we can expect to see Microsoft's Game Pass trial offer become available periodically, in the months leading up to first-party game launches, with a pause taking place around the time of a big launch. We don't know of the trial offer will be back in time for Forza Motorsport's release date in October.

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KitGuru says: This didn't happen around the time of Halo Infinite's launch but doing this for future major releases does make sense, as many people start new accounts to take advantage of the Game Pass offer. 

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