Xbox Slashes Game Pass Prices!
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Tiers Get a Massive Discount – But There’s a Catch!
Microsoft has sent shockwaves through the gaming community with a surprise announcement: Xbox Game Pass prices are officially dropping. After a series of controversial hikes in late 2025 that saw the service climb to its highest price point ever, the new leadership under Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma has moved to make the subscription "more accessible" once again.
However, the price cut comes with a significant trade-off that will hit fans of one of the world’s biggest franchises the hardest.
The New Pricing Breakdown
Starting immediately, subscribers will see a noticeable reduction in their monthly outgoings. Here is how the new pricing structure looks:
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate drops from £22.99 to £16.99 / $29.99 to $22.99
XBox Game Pass PC drops from £13.49 to £10.99 / $16.49 to $13.99
The rest of the tier prices stay the same. For existing subscribers, the new lower rates will be applied automatically on your next billing cycle following April 22, 2026.
The "Call of Duty" Catch
While the price reduction is a welcome relief for the wallet, it marks the end of an era for Day One releases of Microsoft’s biggest acquisition. In a strategic pivot, Xbox has confirmed that future Call of Duty titles will no longer launch on Game Pass on Day One.
Instead, new installments of the blockbuster shooter will join the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass libraries approximately one year after their initial release, typically during the following holiday season.
This move follows reports that putting Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 on the service at launch cost Microsoft an estimated $300 million in lost retail sales. Existing titles, including Black Ops 6 and Modern Warfare 3, will remain in the library for now, but the "Day One" promise for COD is officially a thing of the past.
Why the Change?
The decision appears to be a direct response to player feedback and a stalling subscriber base. New CEO Asha Sharma stated in a recent memo that the service had "become too expensive for too many players." By lowering the price but removing the high-cost Day One COD perk, Microsoft hopes to find a "better value equation" that keeps the service sustainable while bringing back lapsed members.
For gamers who don't play Call of Duty every year, this is an absolute win—saving £6 a month (£72 a year) while keeping access to hundreds of other first-party and third-party Day One titles.
Will this entice you to subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate? Did you cancel your subscription when prices went up? Are you planning on resubscribing with this change in price? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.