Game Pass Price Cut
- Microsoft lowered Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $29.99 to $22.99 per month after customer feedback. - The company also confirmed future Call of Duty titles will skip day-one Game Pass, arriving about a year later. - The changes were widely posted and discussed on social channels, generating heavy engagement on reaction threads. ( )
Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $22.99 a month on April 21, reversing part of last year’s price hike. (news.xbox.com) The new U.S. price is down from $29.99, and PC Game Pass fell to $13.99 from $16.49. Microsoft said the changes took effect immediately and may vary by region. (news.xbox.com) Microsoft also said future Call of Duty games will no longer arrive in Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass on launch day. New entries will be added during the following holiday season, which the company described as about a year later. (news.xbox.com) Game Pass is Microsoft’s subscription bundle for Xbox and PC games, online multiplayer, and cloud streaming. Day-one access has been one of its main selling points, and Xbox still advertises day-one releases for new games on its Game Pass pages. (xbox.com) The change narrows that promise for one of Microsoft’s biggest series. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched on November 14, 2025, and Xbox promoted it as a day-one Game Pass title at the time. (news.xbox.com) The latest move follows a backlash to Microsoft’s October 2025 increase, which pushed Ultimate to $29.99 in the U.S. IGN reported that jump was 50% from the prior $19.99 monthly price. (ign.com) Microsoft did not frame the April 21 change as a retreat on strategy. In its announcement, the company said Ultimate subscribers still get hundreds of games, online console multiplayer, cloud gaming, in-game benefits, and major day-one releases outside the new Call of Duty timing. (news.xbox.com) The company’s storefront still pitches Ultimate as its top-tier plan across console, PC, and cloud, with perks tied to games including Call of Duty: Warzone. Its broader Game Pass marketing also continues to emphasize a large catalog and launch-day access for many releases. (xbox.com, xbox.com) The result is a simpler monthly bill for subscribers and a later Game Pass debut for future Call of Duty releases. Microsoft kept the service cheaper than it was two days earlier, but less generous for the franchise many players watch most closely. (news.xbox.com)
