Xbox is making a big change to Game Pass, and it is one that Call of Duty fans will definitely notice. Microsoft has confirmed that Game Pass Ultimate is getting cheaper, dropping from $29.99 to $22.99 per month, while PC Game Pass is also being reduced from $16.49 to $13.99 per month. Prices may still vary depending on the region.
However, there is a major catch. Future Call of Duty titles will no longer launch day one on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Instead, new Call of Duty games will be added to the service during the following holiday season, which means players may have to wait around a year after release before they arrive in the Game Pass library. Existing Call of Duty games already available through Game Pass will remain playable for subscribers.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Gets a Price Cut
The biggest immediate change is the new Game Pass Ultimate price. Starting today, the subscription drops from $29.99 to $22.99 per month. That is a noticeable reduction, especially after many players criticized the service for becoming too expensive.
PC Game Pass is also getting a smaller but still meaningful cut, going from $16.49 to $13.99 per month. For players who mainly use Game Pass for the broader library rather than Call of Duty, this could make the service feel like a better deal again.
Xbox said the change comes after feedback from players, with the company acknowledging that there is no single subscription model that works for everyone. The message is pretty clear: Microsoft is trying to make Game Pass feel more affordable again, but it is also changing what players should expect from the service.
New Call of Duty Games Will No Longer Be Day One
The part that will sting for a lot of fans is the Call of Duty change. One of the biggest selling points of Game Pass Ultimate was the promise of major releases arriving day one, especially after Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard.
Now, future Call of Duty titles will not be added to Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch. Instead, Xbox says new entries will join the service during the following holiday season. In simple terms, that means the latest Call of Duty will likely still be sold as a full-priced release first, with Game Pass subscribers getting access much later.
That is a major shift, because Call of Duty was one of the strongest arguments for the higher Game Pass Ultimate price. Players who subscribed mainly to avoid paying full price for the next COD at launch, this new model changes the value of the service.
Existing Call of Duty Games Will Stay on Game Pass
The good news is that current Call of Duty titles already in the Game Pass library are not being removed because of this change. Xbox confirmed that existing Call of Duty games will continue to be available to subscribers.
That means the change is mainly focused on future releases. If you are already using Game Pass to play older COD titles, your access should continue as normal. But if you were expecting every new Call of Duty to arrive on day one going forward, that is no longer the case.
This looks like Xbox trying to balance two different problems at once. On one hand, Game Pass Ultimate had become expensive enough that many players started questioning whether it was still worth it. On the other hand, putting every new Call of Duty into Game Pass on launch day may have been difficult to justify when the series remains one of the biggest full-priced game launches every year.
By lowering the subscription price, Xbox can make Game Pass look more attractive again. But by delaying new Call of Duty releases, Microsoft also protects one of its most valuable retail franchises from being immediately folded into a cheaper monthly subscription.
It is a compromise, but not one that everyone will like.
In the end, this change makes Game Pass cheaper, but also less powerful as a launch-day subscription for one of gaming’s biggest franchises. For die-hard Xbox fans, it may be a smarter business move. Unfortunately for COD fans, it probably feels like a downgrade wrapped inside a discount.
