After getting some ideas from The Full Nerd, this week's Boost Mode newsletter is all about Game Pass. How can it stay relevant and valuable, as gamers feel the crunch of higher and higher prices? On last week's episode of The Full Nerd podcast, we talked a lot about Game Pass. It got me thinking: What would Microsoft have to offer to get me to subscribe, regularly, not just in passing to try out an interesting new title? And how long might it stick around if things keep going poorly?

Is Microsoft's first ever handheld Xbox console worth the wait? For almost two decades, rumours have swirled about a handheld Xbox console to rival Nintendo and PlayStation. The ROG Xbox Ally has been released worldwide, putting an end to the speculation. It works natively with Xbox's Game Pass subscription service out of the box, meaning members will start off with hundreds of games in their library. But its big trick is that it's really a portable computer running Windows, meaning most digital PC games people already own will work too - so long as they don't need a keyboard and mouse to play.

Xbox users in the US face price increases up to 50 percent on their monthly gaming subscription, making it a great time to check if you're on the right tier or if you even need to subscribe at all. Like it or loathe it, we live in a subscription economy. Music, movies, meal boxes, and more are no longer things you buy once. Gaming is no exception, and while every major player in the sector has some form of sub for players--from PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online for consoles to Apple Arcade on phones--none of them offered quite as much for a modest monthly fee as Xbox Game Pass. Depending on the subscription tier, the service gave players access to a significant library of titles and was available on Xbox consoles, PC, or via cloud gaming.

Fans have reacted angrily after Microsoft announced price increases to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. The company announced that the most popular tier of its Netflix-style video games system - available to PC and Xbox players - would rise by more than 50% from £14.99 to £22.99 per month. Reacting on social media, loads of fans said they had cancelled their Game Pass subscriptions, with some reporting the service's cancellation page had crashed due to demand. BBC Newsbeat has asked Microsoft if the outage was linked to a surge in visits. In a blog post detailing the changes to Game Pass, Microsoft said it would offer three tiers - Essential (£10 per month), Premium (£14.99) and Ultimate (£22.99).

The top price of new video games is suddenly a hot topic, with many publishers pushing for a higher 80 price tag just a year or two after 70 suddenly became commonplace. Notably, Nintendo's price ceiling for Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World is 80. Microsoft had planned to jump on this particular bandwagon starting with The Outer Worlds 2, but now seems to have reversed course. Back in May, Microsoft had announced that base prices for its biggest games for the 2025 holiday season would be increasing to 80 (or 79.99, if you ask the marketers). Today, The Outer Worlds 2 social accounts announced that it would get a preemptive price cut, down to the current 69.99 standard for new, heavily-promoted triple-A games. Microsoft confirmed to Windows Central that its first-party games for PC and Xbox will remain at the 70 USD level this year, with similar pricing in other markets.

Xbox Game Pass is a pretty sweet deal for gamers, especially if you don't want to buy a console or gaming PC. The subscription library is basically the easiest way to get access to a huge amount of titles for a fairly low monthly charge, Netflix-style, and streaming options make them accessible on devices from a laptop to a VR headset. But how much is Microsoft spending on those games? The company has spent upwards of one hundred billion dollars over the last few years, gobbling up developers and publishers across the industry, most notably Activision-Blizzard, Bethesda, and Minecraft maker Mojang. All of those purchases bolster the game and streaming catalog of Game Pass. Those require content deals with other companies before they appear on Game Pass, again, very much like TV shows or movies that pop up on streaming services.

Are you tired of paying more and more for video games? Game prices have been creeping up from major publishers for the last few years, with plenty of gamers spotting a recent jump in Nintendo's first-party prices. Microsoft's Xbox brand is following suit, and it's not even waiting for a new console launch to do it. As of today, US prices of every current Xbox game console have shot up. IGN reports that the base model Xbox Series S with 512GB of storage is now 380 (up from 300), and the Series X gets a 100 bump across the board, with the top-end 2TB model going from 600 to 730.

Monday's ID@Xbox indie showcase included release dates for a few upcoming games we've been tracking. All three will be on Game Pass on day one. Get ready to run like hell in 33 Immortals, which Engadget's Mat Smith previewed at Summer Game Fest 2023. The multiplayer roguelike top-down action game inspired by Dante's Inferno and has charmingly retro graphics -- not pixel art but more like old-school animation, a la Space Ghost. It supports up to 33 players per 25-minute raid.

Everyone's favorite sorta-poker game Balatro is set to cause yet another dip in global productivity levels. The roguelike -- which encourages you to bend and twist the rules of poker in all kinds of wild ways -- is available on Game Pass Ultimate, PC and Standard. Apple Arcade subscribers also have access to it at no extra cost. A trailer that premiered during Monday's ID@Xbox showcase also revealed the latest batch of cosmetic crossover card decks that are now available on all platforms. They include tie-ins with Critical Role, Dead by Daylight, Assassin's Creed, Fallout, Bugsnax and Rust.

Ahead of Microsoft finishing up its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, it said bringing that publisher's titles to Xbox Game Pass might take some time. We've only seen one so far(Diablo IV), but the company now has added a notable one. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be available on Game Pass on its release day, later this year. Almost every year in recent memory, the latest Call of Duty release has been the best-selling game. Microsoft is relying on the debut of a new Call of Duty game to draw players to its Game Pass. 10 a month is cheaper than the price of the game, but it's also a subscription.