Microsoft has unveiled significant changes to its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, blending positive and negative news for gamers. The company announced a price reduction for the service, effective immediately, but confirmed that future Call of Duty games will no longer be included at launch.
Price Adjustments and Service Modifications
Asha Sharma, the head of Microsoft Gaming, disclosed these updates via social media platform X. The price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will decrease from £22.99 to £16.99 per month in the United Kingdom and from $29.99 to $22.99 monthly in the United States. Additionally, PC Game Pass rates will drop from $16.49 to $13.99 per month in the US and from £13.49 to £10.99 monthly in the UK.
This move follows a substantial price hike last October, where the top-tier subscription saw an increase of nearly 50%. Sharma emphasised in an internal memo to Xbox staff that the service had become too costly, necessitating this adjustment to maintain affordability and competitiveness.
Call of Duty Exclusion and Strategic Implications
In a notable shift, Microsoft clarified that upcoming Call of Duty titles will not be accessible on Game Pass upon their release. Instead, these games will retail at full price, typically around £70 or $80, and will only join the subscription service approximately one year after launch. However, older Call of Duty games will remain available on the platform, and other titles from Microsoft-owned studios will continue to be playable from day one.
This decision comes after Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, the developer behind Call of Duty, in a monumental $68.7 billion deal in 2023. The 2024 release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, was the first in the series to debut on Game Pass. A Bloomberg report, citing a former Xbox employee, estimated that Microsoft incurred a $300 million loss in sales by including Call of Duty in the all-you-can-play service, highlighting the financial rationale behind the new policy.
Broader Gaming Strategy and Financial Context
Xbox Game Pass has been a cornerstone of Microsoft's gaming strategy for nearly a decade, as the company pivots from console hardware towards a streaming model akin to Netflix. Since 2024, Microsoft has expanded its reach by releasing games from its studios on platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo Switch, in addition to its own Xbox hardware.
Microsoft has invested over $86 billion in acquiring game developers since 2014, starting with a $2.5 billion purchase of Mojang, the creator of Minecraft. CEO Satya Nadella reported in a conference call that Game Pass generated nearly $5 billion in revenue during the 2025 financial year. Former Xbox chief Sarah Bond affirmed that the service is profitable for both Microsoft and third-party developers who participate.
These changes reflect Microsoft's ongoing efforts to balance subscriber growth with financial sustainability in a competitive gaming market, where it has historically trailed rivals Sony and Nintendo in console sales since the problematic launch of the Xbox One in 2013.
