Xbox is shaking up Game Pass with a move that cuts both ways. Monthly pricing is going down, but future Call of Duty games are losing their day-one spot on the service.
Starting immediately, Game Pass Ultimate drops from $29.99 to $22.99 a month. PC Game Pass falls from $16.49 to $13.99. Exact pricing varies by region.
Here’s the twist. Future Call of Duty releases will no longer hit Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch. Instead, new entries will arrive during the following holiday season, roughly a year after release.
Existing Call of Duty titles already on Game Pass are staying put. The change only applies to upcoming releases in the franchise.
The math is interesting. The $84 you now save annually on Ultimate is close to the price of a new Call of Duty at full retail. Subscribers who were paying specifically to play the latest CoD on day one are effectively getting a lower price for a lower-value package.
Why Microsoft might be doing this
Call of Duty is one of the biggest annual sellers in gaming. Since Microsoft completed the Activision Blizzard acquisition in 2023, the franchise has been a major Game Pass draw, alongside Diablo, Overwatch, and the rest of the catalog.
Putting a full-price blockbuster on a subscription service from day one is a balancing act. It boosts subscribers but can eat into premium sales. By delaying future Call of Duty additions, Microsoft protects that launch window while still using Game Pass as a long-tail engagement tool.
The carveout appears specific to Call of Duty for now. Xbox has not signaled a wider pullback from day-one first-party releases on Game Pass.
