Technologies

Is Xbox Game Pass Really Cheaper Than Buying Games? We Do the Math

We break down if it’s worth it to buy an Xbox Game Pass subscription, or if you should just keep paying for individual games.

I grew up with a video game controller in my hands. Video games have gone through a major evolution since my childhood — and while everything else has become more expensive, games have stayed roughly the same price.

But in 2017, Microsoft launched Xbox Game Pass, followed by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in 2019. These are subscription services that give players unlimited access to an expanding library of over 400 new and old games, and cost $120 or $180 for one year, respectively. XBGP lets you play on console or PC, and XBGPU lets you play console, PC and cloud gaming. These prices make either Game Pass plan attractive, but in the end, is it cheaper to buy physical copies of games?

I did the math and found a year of XBGPU with an Xbox Series S is a better value than buying physical copies of games to play on an Xbox Series X, especially if you play a lot of different games.

See at Xbox

You can also check out if streaming services or cable offer a better deal, and whether it’s cheaper to buy groceries or meal kits.

Xbox Game Pass vs. physical game copies

	Series S + XBGP	Series S + XBGPU	Series X + XBGP	Series X + XBGPU	Series X + XBGP + game	Series X + XBGPU + game	Series X + game
Console	$300	$300	$500	$500	$500	$500	$500
Subscription (1 year)	$120	$180	$120	$180	$120	$180	N/A
Physical game (1)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	$60-70	$60-70	$60-70

Total	$420	$480	$620	$680	$680-690	$740-750	$560-570

How I did the math

To calculate the costs, I started with the cost of the Series S, $300, and Series X, $500, since you need a console to play games on. The Series S is a digital-only console with no disc drive, so it can’t play physical copies of games. The Series X has a disc drive, so it can play either digital or physical copies of games. It’s important to include both, since the Series S is the more budget-friendly option, but the Series X has more gaming capabilities. If you already own either console though, you can scroll down for a yearly price breakdown of just the gaming service versus buying physical copies of the games.

Next, I found the price of each Xbox Game Pass plan without promotional deals, $10 and $15 a month. I multiplied both costs by 12 to give us the cost of the subscription over a one-year period. This is how we get $120 for XBGP and $180 for XBGPU.

Then, I found the price of new physical games. Many new games are $60, but game publishers are starting to increase game prices to $70, as was the case for NBA 2K21. Microsoft said it would start charging $70 for games made by its studios in 2023. That’s why there are two prices for new physical games.

A Series S with either Game Pass plan is budget-friendly gaming

We have two columns reflecting a Series S with one year of either game pass plan. A Series S with XBGP costs $420, the least expensive option. The Series S with XBGPU is $480, the second least expensive option. Both of these cost less than the Series X, and that’s before you buy a game or a subscription.

See Series S at Xbox

A Series X with either Game Pass plan and physical games cost more

There are five columns to show the Series X with one year of either Game Pass plan, Series X with one year of either Game Pass plan and physical games and Series X with just physical games.

As you might expect, the Series X with XBGPU and one physical game costs the most, at $740 or $750. Next, the Series X with XBGP and one physical game costs $680, and the Series X with XBGPU costs $680 or $690 with a $70 physical game. The Series X with XBGP costs $620. Finally, an Xbox Series X with one physical game costs $560 or $570.

See Series X at Xbox

What if you already have a Series S or X?

As you can see above, the consoles are responsible for the majority of the costs in the first year. For the second year, we remove the cost of the consoles, and this also gives us an idea of what the cost will look like moving forward.

	XBGP (1 year)	XBGPU (1 year)	Physical game (1)
Total	$120	$180	$60-70

As a reminder, one year of XBGP is $120, one year of XBGPU is $180 and a physical copy of a new game is between $60-70. You could buy up to three new $60 games in a year to equal the cost of XBGPU. If you buy $70 games, you can get two for the price of XBGPU or just one for the cost of XBGP. If you usually play more than two or three games a year, either Game Pass plan is worth it.

With both Game Pass plans, subscribers have access to over 400 games. Some of those games are new, like A Plague Tale: Requiem, while others are classics, like Doom. Games are added to the Game Pass library periodically, but they are also removed, like how Netflix adds and removes shows and movies over time. The number of games has also increased from when Microsoft launched the subscription service, so it’s safe to say that number will continue to rise.

Online play included with XBGPU, not physical games

Another important thing to consider is whether or not you plan on playing games online. If you want to do that with physical games, you need to subscribe to Xbox Gold Live.

	XBGP (1 year) + Xbox Live Gold (1 year)	XBGPU (1 year)	Physical game (1) + Xbox Live Gold (1 year)
Total	$180	$180	$120-130

Xbox Live Gold is $10 a month, or $60 a year. You would need to pay for a physical copy of a new game ($60-70) and then add the cost of one year of Xbox Live Gold ($60) to get $120-130.

Subscribe to Xbox Live Gold

If you have XBGPU then Xbox Live Gold is included with your subscription, so you don’t have to include that cost with your plan and you have access to the game library. However, an XBGP subscription doesn’t include Xbox Live Gold, so you’d have to pay for that separately or upgrade to XBGPU for the same cost.

Is either Xbox Game Pass plan worth it?

If you’re on a budget and want access to hundreds of games and online play, you should consider a Series S with XBGPU. And if you already have a console, XBGPU is still a great deal. You have unlimited access to over 400 games as compared to buying a few physical games, plus you can play online with your friends. If money isn’t an issue, then ball out with a Series X, XBGPU and as many physical games as you want.

For more We Do The Math, check out if Trader Joe’s is cheaper than other grocery stores, whether a meal kit is cheaper than buying groceries at the store or how much you could save by going meatless for one day a week.

Technologies

Verum Exchange Launches a $10 Bonus for Online Mining of Verum Coin and Bitcoin

Verum Exchange is expanding its online mining capabilities, allowing users to earn a $10 bonus while continuing to mine cryptocurrency directly from their smartphones. The feature is available not only in the currency converter app but also within Verum Messenger.

Online mining has long been part of the Verum ecosystem. Now, the company has added a new incentive to the existing feature — a bonus for participating in online mining.

The concept of online mining is changing the traditional perception of cryptocurrency mining. Users do not need to set up specialized mining equipment at home or deal with complex technical configurations. The feature can be accessed directly through the Verum digital ecosystem.

Verum Exchange: https://exchange.verum.im
Verum Messenger: https://ios.verum.im

Technologies

Supreme Court permits certain Trump mail-in voting restrictions before midterm elections

The Supreme Court has temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that prevented the Trump administration from implementing new restrictions on mail-in voting, allowing the administration to proceed with its plan to impose new requirements on states ahead of the midterm elections.

The Supreme Court on Monday sided with President Donald Trump for now in his effort to impose sweeping new restrictions on distributing mail ballots, putting on hold a lower-court ruling that had blocked key parts of the plan ahead of November’s midterm elections.

The justices, over three dissents, paused a ruling by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston that prevented the Trump administration from carrying out portions of a March executive order involving the U.S. Postal Service and voter eligibility lists. The court’s three liberal justices dissented.

But the decision does not immediately allow the Postal Service to put its new mail-ballot system into effect.

A separate nationwide injunction issued Aug. 11 by U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani in Boston still blocks USPS from implementing the new procedures for the Nov. 3 elections. The administration would have to overcome that order as well.

The distinction was central to the Supreme Court’s decision.

The majority said Trump’s executive order itself does not require states to change how they conduct elections. Instead, it directs federal agencies to develop policies that could later impose requirements on states. Because those policies had not yet been implemented when 23 states and Washington, D.C., challenged the order, the court said the challenge was premature.

The justices stressed they were not deciding whether Trump’s order or the policies developed under it are ultimately legal.

“The Court’s disposition of this application does not mean that any measure taken by the Government to implement the Order will necessarily be lawful,” the majority wrote. “On that score, time will tell.”

The Postal Service last week finalized rules intended to carry out part of Trump’s order, including new requirements involving ballot envelopes, barcodes and information states must provide USPS. Those rules remain blocked by Talwani’s separate injunction.

The case now returns to the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals as the underlying legal fight continues. Some states have already started preparing to send ballots to military and overseas voters in early September.

Technologies

Trump targets Iran’s trade lifelines — here are the countries most exposed

Washington’s threat of “economic D-Day” collides with a small group of governments that account for most of what remains of Iran’s foreign trade.

The U.S. announced an “economic D-Day” campaign Monday to isolate Iran from the global economy, threatening penalties against “enablers” that continue doing business with Tehran.

The move is part of Washington’s bid to sever the trade lifeline that has sustained Tehran’s economy through nearly six months of war.

While enforcement details are sketchy, the threat could still put the U.S. on a collision course with some of Tehran’s major trade partners.

China

China is the biggest buyer of Iranian oil and serves as a crucial link to the global economy for Tehran, accounting for about 90% of its oil exports, according to the U.S. government.

China reported $9.96 billion in bilateral trade with Iran in 2025, excluding the roughly $31.2 billion in unreported Iranian crude oil exports to China that year, according to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission.

Independent Chinese refiners take in the bulk of it, often rebranded as Malaysian or Indonesian crude and settled through intermediaries outside the dollar system, according to Kpler. The U.S. Treasury has sanctioned several of those refineries this year for Iranian oil purchases, while sparing Chinese financial institutions.

Beijing has openly opposed U.S. sanctions against Iran, arguing that economic pressure will not resolve the disputes. In May, China ordered domestic firms to disregard U.S. sanctions on five refiners linked to the Iranian oil trade.

While Beijing is unlikely to push back directly on Washington’s sanctions push, it will “quietly step up compliance” among state banks and oil companies to avoid getting caught in the net, said Dan Wang, China director at Eurasia Group, pointing to “a dichotomy between the official statement and the private practice.”

“Chinese authorities care more about dollar access in financing and market entry to the U.S.,” she said.

United Arab Emirates

The Emirates, located just 50 miles from Iran across the Persian Gulf, has long been a major trading hub for Iran.

The bilateral trade amounted to around $28 billion in 2024, when the Emirates was its largest source of imports, contributing over 30%, according to the World Trade Organization data. The UAE was also Iran’s third-largest export destination, making up 12% of its shipments, totaling more than $7 billion.

That relationship hit a snag last week as the UAE moved to suspend all trade and financial transactions with Iran, following two ballistic missiles fired toward Emirati territory, one of which targeted UAE-owned tankers.

Iran has relied on UAE banks and its financial system to access the world economy through illicit, often murky transactions, and cutting off Iran would require more forceful actions from Emirati authorities to crack down on opaque financial and trading activity, according to U.S.-based think tank The Washington Institute.

“The majority of Iran’s transshipment, smuggling, and shadow banking activity takes place in Dubai, so Washington must do what it can to help the UAE’s national leaders in Abu Dhabi convince and cajole Dubai’s leaders to play ball,” Matthew Levitt, a former U.S. Treasury official, wrote in a note on Monday.

Turkey

Turkey maintains significant commercial ties with Tehran, importing Iranian natural gas and exporting manufactured goods south.

The Turkey-Iran bilateral trade reached $5.7 billion in 2024, according to the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with Ankara exporting mostly machinery and parts, chemical and agricultural products, while importing energy products from Tehran.

Meanwhile, under a 25-year gas supply contract between the two countries that expired at the end of July, Turkey’s imports of Iranian gas spiked this year while Iran’s share of Turkey’s total natural gas imports rose to 18.6%, according to local media.

While Ankara has sought to diversify toward other suppliers, expanding pipeline imports from Azerbaijan and Russia, it has, so far, not signaled that it intends to cut Iran off.

Iraq

Iraq, dependent on Iranian electricity and gas, has historically traded billions with Tehran.

Iran renewed a five-year contract in March 2024 to supply Iraq with up to nearly 660 billion cubic feet of natural gas a year, and electricity imports from Iran accounted for more than 30% of its electricity generation in 2023, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Iraq-Iran trade reached more than $10 billion in 2025, according to Reuters, with Tehran exporting food, consumer goods and other products to the Iraqi market. The trade has dwindled this year amid increased security risks in the region and intermittent disruptions along border crossings since the war started in late February.

Iraq reportedly pays Iran around $4 billion to $5 billion a year for natural gas for electricity generation. The fresh U.S. sanctions could curtail Baghdad’s payments for Iranian energy.

India

India, among Iran’s top five trading partners, has seen its bilateral trade with Iran fall in recent years to around $1.6 billion in the year ending March 2026, according to India’s Department of Commerce, down from $2.3 billion in the year through to March 2023.

New Delhi primarily exports rice, tea, sugar and pharmaceuticals to Iran, and imports dry and fresh fruits from Iran.

In April, India resumed importing crude oil from Iran following a seven-year halt, after the U.S. temporarily lifted sanctions on Iranian crude exports.

But those trades now will be tested if Washington makes good on its threat to sanction any entity, including Indian refiners, that have procured Iranian energy.