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Just did the $1 Game Pass Ultimate deal to convert my existing Gold sub for 3 years!

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It worked for me, and even better, I got the deal in Canada.

I signed up for 2 extra years of Gold to get me up to spring 2022, then paid the extra dollar converting my 3 years of Gold to Ultimate for $1. Then I turned off reoccuring billing which would activate in 2022.

No idea how long this goes for. So if this thing bombs out, please don't blame me. I'm just following the CNET article.

IMPORTANT: You might need to be an Xbox Insider. If you aren't already, hurry up and download the app. Also rumour flying around this $1 deal might be dead by end of the week as E3 is over. Who knows.


According to Microsoft's FAQ, "As an Insider benefit, when you join Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to give feedback, we will apply any prepaid time you have on Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass or both toward Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, up to a maximum of 36-months."

That's the key thing to understand: If you have an existing Xbox Live Gold subscription, whatever remaining time you have left on your Gold subscription automatically gets converted into Game Pass Ultimate when you apply the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month-for-$1 deal to your Microsoft account.

Here's what you get with Ultimate:

  • Over 100 games to play on Xbox One, with new ones added frequently (see full list of Xbox Game Pass titles here)
  • The new PC version of Game Pass, which is currently in beta. (You simply download the Xbox Game Pass for PC (beta) for Windows 10 app on your PC.)
  • Any titles from Xbox Game Studios are available at no extra charge on their day of release
  • That includes Gears 5: Ultimate Edition, which will release to Ultimate members 4 days early when it hits in November.
  • "Games with Gold" titles on Xbox (yet more free games, added periodically).
  • Online multiplayer support.
You can basically get Xbox Game Pass for up to 36 months for free.

How to get the deal
The bulk of this info comes from this Slickdeals thread, but we've spent the past few hours trying it out on two different accounts, and it works. But there seem to be so many people taking advantage of the deal that Microsoft's servers are having a hard time keeping up: We've seen some 404 pages, and we had trouble completing the second transaction.

Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the services featured on this page, and that your mileage may vary. This deal is supposed to be available through E3 (which runs through Thursday), but Microsoft could cut off or alter the deal at any time.

With those caveats in place, follow these steps to maximize the deal.

  • Start at your main Microsoft account page.
  • Go to the "services and subscriptions" tab at the top of the page -- this will show what your currently subscribed to (or not).
  • Before applying the 1-month-for-$1 deal to your account, extend your Xbox Live Gold subscription by buying additional months.
  • You can get 12 months of Live Gold for $60, although there are a few Live Gold deals out there that can bring the cost down to less than $50 for 12 months (CD Keys, Rakuten and Costco). Some people also have Microsoft Rewards they can convert into months of Live Gold. (Get separate 6- or 12-month codes, but opt for the latter where possible.)
SEE XBOX LIVE GOLD AT AMAZON
  • You'll want to get to as close to June 10, 2022 as your Xbox Live Gold expiration date to maximize the deal.
  • So, yes: You've now spent as much as $180 for 3 years of Xbox Live Gold ($60 x 3). But, you would've presumably spent that anyway.
  • You can get an extra month of Xbox Live Gold when you turn on auto renew (recurring billing) when adding months to your account. You should be given the option after inputting a purchased digital code for 12 months of Gold, for example.
  • In your account settings, check when your Xbox Live Gold subscription is due to expire. Again, that's under the "Services and Subscriptions" tab.
  • Once you've confirmed you've extended your Xbox Live Gold subscription to the desired amount, click on the link for the 1-month-for-$1 for Game Pass Ultimate deal.
GET XBOX GAME PASS ULTIMATE FOR $1/MONTH
  • Once that deal is applied to your account, your Xbox Live Gold subscription will be converted to Game Pass Ultimate -- and Game Pass Ultimate should be available for the length of your Live Gold subscription. You won't have to pay anything for up to 36 months.
  • After whatever date your Game Pass Ultimate is listed to expire, you'll have to pay $14.99 a month to continue it.
  • You can opt not to auto renew your Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
  • If you opt not to continue Game Pass Ultimate, you could go back to subscribing to only Xbox Live Gold.
So, again: You may have spent upward of $180, plus an extra buck. But: Based on Xbox Live Gold costing $5 a month to use versus the undiscounted Game Pass Ultimate costing $15, your savingscould potentially be as much as $360 ($10 x 36 months).
 
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wipeout364

Member
It’s interesting I’ve seen a couple of people tell me this, but there is most definitely fine print that reads your subscription will be converted based on how much money it is worth ( 1 year of gold is worth 4 months of ultimate) so I don’t know what to believe.
 

HeisenbergFX4

Gold Member
The way it worked for me when it was in preview was I had 2 years of XBL and 1 year of Gamepass left and Ultimate converted it to 3 years total for the $1.00
 

888

Member
I got like 2 years and 2 months. It wouldn’t let me do more because it would put me over the limit of 3 years. I gave the extra year to my son and he is set until late 2020. Great deal.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
So $180 (or whatever you can get 3 years of Gold for) + $1.
The title says $1 for 3 years.
The tile is going to mislead people.
Fair point.

Mods. I can't edit the thread title. If you want to massage the thread title to say you can upgrade your existing Gold to Ultimate for $1, please do.
 
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Nikana

Go Go Neo Rangers!
It’s interesting I’ve seen a couple of people tell me this, but there is most definitely fine print that reads your subscription will be converted based on how much money it is worth ( 1 year of gold is worth 4 months of ultimate) so I don’t know what to believe.

That's if you already have ultimate and try to add gold to it.
 
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StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
It’s interesting I’ve seen a couple of people tell me this, but there is most definitely fine print that reads your subscription will be converted based on how much money it is worth ( 1 year of gold is worth 4 months of ultimate) so I don’t know what to believe.
Not true.

I topped up my Gold to spring 2022. Did the $1 deal, and my account now says it's now converted to Ultimate to spring 2022.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
But I was told that millions are paying this at $120 a year and Gamepass is super successful and MS is just rolling in that gamepass dough....
Nobody ever said millions of GP subbers are paying full price, nor is GP rolling in dough.

Too bad Sony is too cheap to offer their 90 million PS4 gamers something similar. The market leader finally got EA Access (though no last gen games), and PS Now is a rip off. A company whose gaming division is firing on all cylinders and doesn't even want to give gamers optional choices at low prices.
 

Arkage

Banned
I was going to post a similar thread but found this one which says basically the same thing, but maybe worth it to point out the details and include it in the thead title itself like you did.

I did this deal as well, it's pretty damn amazing. Had to buy two more years of gold to get the max months, but I just installed Crackdown 3, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, Below, Halo Wars 2, The Surge, Monster Hunter World, Hollow Knight, Outer Wilds, Shenmue 2, Horizon 4, the new singleplayer Sea of Thieves stuff, nevermind the upcoming Gears, the upcoming Halo, the upcoming Ori. Plus many of these games are on PC so I can switch to my laptop and pick up where I left off if the wife wants the TV. Amazing stuff.

Now after those three years, if it's $15/month, will I resub? Doubtful, but the next three years will be great!
 
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Kagey K

Banned
It’s an ever better deal if you have some rewards points saved up. Just bought a year of gold using points, topped up my kids account, paid 1.00 and now they have Ultimate until Feb 2021.

I did mine back when the deal first hit alpha insiders so between the 4 accounts in my house, (my g/f and I gameshare and my kids gameshare) we have almost 5 years of Gamepass ultimate for some rewards points and 2.00
 
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It's actually ridiculous what great value XGPU is.
I was initially skeptical but given time Game Pass has turned into a must have for someone like myself who is short on cash and time.

The only thing I'm hoping for in the future is shared progression across my PC and Xbox GP games.

I wonder if there are certain restrictions preventing them from this, given that the Play Anywhere titles can do it...
 

Shakka43

Member
Nobody ever said millions of GP subbers are paying full price, nor is GP rolling in dough.

Too bad Sony is too cheap to offer their 90 million PS4 gamers something similar. The market leader finally got EA Access (though no last gen games), and PS Now is a rip off. A company whose gaming division is firing on all cylinders and doesn't even want to give gamers optional choices at low prices.
PS Now is selling for $70/year ($6.80/month) right now, I wouldn't call that a ripoff at all.
 

TLZ

Banned
Ok so I installed the PC gamepass app and for some reason my audio vanished.

Anyone help?
 

TLZ

Banned
It’s interesting I’ve seen a couple of people tell me this, but there is most definitely fine print that reads your subscription will be converted based on how much money it is worth ( 1 year of gold is worth 4 months of ultimate) so I don’t know what to believe.
What you're talking about is true if you add gold live sub after you sub to ultimate. Make sure you do live gold sub first, and everything else, then do the $1 ultimate sub at the end to get the best deal.
 

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Im all set throught 2021. I read about the deal, went ahead and bought another year of Xbox Live, then paid the $1.

I'll be able to re-earn achievements for Prey, Wolfenstein 2, and Metro Exodus. That alone was worth $1!
 
It says in the description that the $1 deal can go up to 36 months. So this is a legit method.

Still, $180/year for 150+ gamepass games + online + pc pass with 100+ games + monthly games with gold is EASILY worth it. If you got 3 years for $181, well done, that's even better. I typically waste 3-4 month not even playing games, every year. Would not be subbed in those periods anyway. If I got the deal still would have been nice, but 1.5 of those 3 years would have been wasted.

Instead, I picked up the $1 for 3 months gamepass deal, then applied this. So for $2 I got 4 months of game pass ultimate (it added another month).

Sony can't compete. PSN plus is being blown the fuck away.
 
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TLZ

Banned
The windows update for the app seems to wipe some drivers as a bunch of mine reinstalled after it.
Yea I managed to fix it thanks. I just went into sound and found windows switched the default one to another. Back to how it was now.

Playing The Messenger on laptop :messenger_sunglasses:
 
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But I was told that millions are paying this at $120 a year and Gamepass is super successful and MS is just rolling in that gamepass dough....

They want you to get subscribe to it


Also not everyone is aware of this 36 months thing. Only hardcore who very active on forums will be able to use this ultimate deal.

No service is profitable in short term. It's a long-term game.

There's a reason everyone is doing it
 

Kagey K

Banned
I mean sure you'll come out a winner in the end OP but they got you to spend over 100 bucks now on basically nothing.

So what... Do you think 3 years after I beat it i care if I still own Arkham Knight or Metro Exodus? They are one and done games. Maybe go back for a second playthrough, and if I really love it I can use the Gamepass discount to buy it for cheaper before it leaves the service.

The 20 games they added on the day of the E3 conference and the 34 more they will add the day they release from the conference, make it easily worth the money.

That doesn’t include what else they are going to add on top of that, and again if I really like the game the option to buy it is still there, with a discount.

I don’t get how anyone can hate this.
 

Boss Mog

Member
So what... Do you think 3 years after I beat it i care if I still own Arkham Knight or Metro Exodus? They are one and done games. Maybe go back for a second playthrough, and if I really love it I can use the Gamepass discount to buy it for cheaper before it leaves the service.

The 20 games they added on the day of the E3 conference and the 34 more they will add the day they release from the conference, make it easily worth the money.

That doesn’t include what else they are going to add on top of that, and again if I really like the game the option to buy it is still there, with a discount.

I don’t get how anyone can hate this.
I think you misunderstood what I meant when I said "basically nothing". I wasn't really referring to the fact the games were digital or the lineup itself. It was more saying that in order to get this $1/month for 3 years you need to shell out around $100-150 right now. Like I said you'll definitely come out ahead after 3 years but what I was trying to say was that for some people who are on a tight budget having to shell out cash like that immediately for not much to show for it right now might not be worth it to them. I never said I hated this; quite the contrary it's a great deal. I just wanted to make people aware of the immediate cost of what the OP did, which he didn't really emphasize in his post is all.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
I think you misunderstood what I meant when I said "basically nothing". I wasn't really referring to the fact the games were digital or the lineup itself. It was more saying that in order to get this $1/month for 3 years you need to shell out around $100-150 right now. Like I said you'll definitely come out ahead after 3 years but what I was trying to say was that for some people who are on a tight budget having to shell out cash like that immediately for not much to show for it right now might not be worth it to them. I never said I hated this; quite the contrary it's a great deal. I just wanted to make people aware of the immediate cost of what the OP did, which he didn't really emphasize in his post is all.
Oh, I guess you didn’t read the entire thread then.

I spent 2.00 and got 3 years for me and 1.5 for my kids.

I just spent some of my MS rewards points that I get for playing Gamepass games and doing daily quizzes.

If you are on a tight budget doing the daily MS Rewards stuff can net you a ton of free Microsoft money for very little time.

Even if you had no money and no MS reawards points. If you had 6 months left on gold and 1 month left on Gamepass 1.00 would get you 7 months of ultimate, which is still a hell of a deal.
 
So I haven't been playing on Xbox for years. Mainly because the exclusives have been so lackluster. This deal got me back to Xbox. I am European and found Xbox Live Gold vouchers for cheapish and ended up paying 130 euros and change for 3 years of Live Gold. So thanks to this deal I got Xbox Live Gold + Xbox Game Pass (plus PC Game pass) for under 4 euros a month for the next 36 months. That's an insane deal. This might actually get me to buy the new Xbox at launch come 2020.
 

CeeJay

Member
The real reason behind this is to lock current Xbox users into the eco-system for the next three years rather than to artificially boost the number of users.

I got my three years of ultimate ;)
 
D

Deleted member 740922

Unconfirmed Member
I had GamePass till December 19 and Gold till June 2020. I bought a year of GamePass from eBay (for approx €25), did the €1 Ultimate thing and ended up with Ultimate until December 2021 so I'm delighted :messenger_grinning_squinting:

Anyone downplaying this deal is just being childish tbh.
 
I'm a Disney princess when it comes to this sort of stuff which is why i feel most comfortable paying month-month. There was a period a couple years back where I didn't turn my xbox on for over 10 months. I had wasted an entire year of live. When the gaming mood strikes me, I pay another $10 and that gives me time to finish at least 5-6 games that month or $15 to do some multiplayer gaming.

What microsoft is doing...while scary long term (games as a service) is also extremely generous.
 
Just bought 2x keys from cdkeys.com and it bugged out during the purchase. I've been charged via paypal but I haven't received any keys to my email. Contacted support but knowing my luck by the time they get back to me this deal will be over >.<
 

The Shepard

Member
Just bought 2x keys from cdkeys.com and it bugged out during the purchase. I've been charged via paypal but I haven't received any keys to my email. Contacted support but knowing my luck by the time they get back to me this deal will be over >.<

I read on hotukdeals that cdkeys are sending people used codes so avoid.

This deal has come at a perfect time for me as I only brought an xbox one 2 weeks ago. I got gamepass until march 2021 now. Absolutely the best deal ever.
 

Dory16

Banned
It’s interesting I’ve seen a couple of people tell me this, but there is most definitely fine print that reads your subscription will be converted based on how much money it is worth ( 1 year of gold is worth 4 months of ultimate) so I don’t know what to believe.
That's exactly what happened to me when I tried it. Purchased Gold until October 2020 and I had monthly recurring Game Pass. That converted itno Ultimate Game Pass until Feb 2020 only.
 
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