Just days after reports of the new Microsoft Gaming CEO, Asha Sharma, calling its Xbox Game Pass services too expensive for customers, a major change has been announced for the subscription program. For the first time, the prices of both Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass are being reduced. However, this is at the expense of receiving brand-new Call of Duty games day one on the service.
With the change, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is going from costing $29.99 a month to $22.99 a month. This is almost a 25% reduction in price. Next, PC Game Pass is going from $16.49 to $13.99 a month, a smaller but still significant 15% price reduction. The Xbox Game Pass Essential ($9.99 a month) and Premium ($14.99 a month) plans will keep their current pricing.
Microsoft announced the big shift today in a blog post, saying that "Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn't a single model that's best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far. "
As for what subscribers are losing, in the last couple of years, Microsoft has been launching Call of Duty games day-one onto Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. This is now going away. The yet-to-be-announced 2026 Call of Duty from Activision will only come to Game Pass subscriptions in the "following holiday season" according to Microsoft, which is about a year after release. None of the currently available Call of Duty games on Game Pass are being removed from the service, however.
"Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will continue to have access to hundreds of games on Xbox console and PC including current Call of Duty titles, in-game benefits, online console multiplayer, and major day one releases," added the company. "We'll continue to listen and learn."
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