Xbox Game Pass subscribers in Poland, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and South Korea have all reported that they’ve received the emails today.
The change in these countries is likely related to local regulations on subscription price changes, and it means in Ireland existing subscribers with auto-renew enabled will still be charged at the €17.99 monthly rate, instead of the new €26.99 pricing. Microsoft notes in its email that existing subscribers in these markets will be notified “at least 60 days in advance” of price changes, meaning the changes won’t go into effect for at least two more months.
The halt in price increases in select markets is a change to what Microsoft announced last week. “This updated pricing will go into effect on October 1st for new subscribers, and then at the next billing cycle, likely to be November 4th, for current subscribers,” said Dustin Blackwell, director of gaming and platform communications at Microsoft, in a briefing with The Verge last week.