Game Pass price shakeup
- Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $29.99 to $22.99 per month in an April 21 change. (twoaveragegamers.com) - The company will also delay future Call of Duty day-one releases on Game Pass by roughly one year. (x.com) - The price drop lowers subscription cost but recalibrates day-one value and access to major shooters for subscribers. ( )
Microsoft cut Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $22.99 a month on April 21, but future Call of Duty games will no longer arrive there on launch day. (news.xbox.com) The new Ultimate price is down from $29.99, and PC Game Pass fell to $13.99 from $16.49. Microsoft said the changes took effect immediately on April 21 and may vary by region. (news.xbox.com) Microsoft said new Call of Duty titles will reach Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass in “the following holiday season,” about a year after release. Existing Call of Duty games already in the catalog will stay available. (news.xbox.com) That rewrites one of the selling points Xbox used six months ago, when it said Ultimate subscribers would get “over 75 day one releases a year,” including Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. The company had pitched the October 2025 overhaul as a bigger, more flexible Game Pass with more launch-day access. (news.xbox.com) Xbox’s current plan-comparison page still advertises day-one releases for new Xbox-published and third-party games, but a footnote now says that benefit excludes Call of Duty titles. The rest of the Ultimate bundle still includes cloud gaming, online console multiplayer, EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, Fortnite Crew benefits, and in-game perks. (xbox.com) Microsoft told players the change followed feedback that Game Pass Ultimate had become too expensive for many users. Variety reported the move is the first major Xbox business shift under Microsoft Gaming chief Asha Sharma, who took over in February 2026. (variety.com) The tradeoff is straightforward: subscribers pay less each month, but one of the industry’s biggest annual shooters moves closer to a catalog title than a launch-day perk. For players who used Ultimate mainly for day-one Call of Duty, the value calculation changed on April 21, not when the next game ships. (news.xbox.com) Microsoft’s message is that Game Pass still offers hundreds of games, current Call of Duty entries, and other day-one releases. The opening pitch is cheaper now; the marquee exception is no longer hidden. (news.xbox.com)
