Microsoft Slashes Game Pass Prices Across Two Tiers
According to Microsoft’s official announcement, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is dropping from $29.99 to $22.99 per month, while PC Game Pass falls from $16.49 to $13.99 monthly. This marks a reversal from the price increases originally announced in July 2025, when the company introduced its new three-tiered subscription model.
The price reductions represent meaningful savings for long-term subscribers. Game Pass Ultimate users will save $84 annually, while PC Game Pass members pocket $54 per year. Microsoft maintains that virtually all other service features remain unchanged, including day-one access to select titles, online multiplayer functionality, and in-game perks.
The Call of Duty Exclusion Changes the Equation
The pricing cuts arrive with a substantial caveat: future “Call of Duty” releases will no longer launch on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Instead, new entries in the franchise will arrive on these services approximately one year after their initial release, during the following holiday season.
This delay fundamentally alters the value proposition for subscribers. Modern AAA titles retail for $59.99 to $69.99, meaning players must now choose between purchasing the latest “Call of Duty” outright or waiting roughly twelve months for it to appear on their subscription. Past “Call of Duty” titles will remain available on both services, but the latest entry will be absent at launch.
What This Means for the Subscriber Base
The announcement carries weight given that Game Pass exceeded 20 million users by November 2022. For casual players and those uninterested in “Call of Duty,” the price reduction is unambiguously positive. However, franchise enthusiasts face a harder calculation.
The timing reflects internal pressure within Microsoft. According to reporting from The Verge, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer for Microsoft Gaming Asha Sharma released a memo acknowledging that the services had become too expensive for subscribers. The price cuts appear to address this concern directly, though the “Call of Duty” exclusion suggests Microsoft is also managing content licensing costs.
The Strategic Calculation
Microsoft is betting that lower subscription costs will attract or retain enough players to offset revenue lost through “Call of Duty” day-one availability. The company appears willing to sacrifice the franchise’s prestige as a launch-day draw in exchange for broader accessibility and reduced per-subscriber acquisition costs.
Players now face the choice of purchasing the latest game in the “Call of Duty” franchise outright or waiting about a year before getting to play the game
. This decision will likely differ for each subscriber depending on their engagement with the series and their tolerance for delayed access to new releases.
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