Xbox cuts Game Pass prices but new Call of Duty games will no longer hit the service on day one

Xbox is cutting the prices of both Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, effective immediately, but there’s one big caveat.

First, the good news: Game Pass Ultimate now costs $23 per month, down from $30.

PC Game Pass will now run you $14 a month instead of $16.50.

The Xbox team noted in https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2026/04/21/xbox-game-pass-update/" target="_blank">a blog post that prices may vary by region.

That’s a smart, much-needed decision.

In a memo that leaked last week, new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-ceo-called-game-pass-too-expensive-for-players-in-a-leaked-memo-194749597.html" target="_blank">expressed concern over the high price of Game Pass, stating that it “has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation.

Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around." Sharma reiterated that publicly in a https://x.com/asha_shar/status/2046619416427950442" target="_blank">post on X.

In October, Microsoft https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-jacks-the-price-of-game-pass-ultimate-up-to-30-a-month-142441307.html" target="_blank">increased Game Pass Ultimate to $30 per month, which was a 50 percent price hike.

It was the https://www.engadget.com/xbox-is-increasing-game-pass-prices-and-adding-a-standard-plan-234657957.html" target="_blank">second time in 15 months that the company had jacked up the monthly fee, making it https://www.engadget.com/gaming/xbox/why-im-breaking-up-with-xbox-160000545.html" target="_blank">an unjustifiable expense for many.

The price of a PC Game Pass subscription also rose by $4.50 per month, and now Microsoft is bringing that back down a bit too.

“Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far,” the Xbox team wrote. “ We’ll continue to listen and learn.”

There is one giant tradeoff here: new Call of Duty games will no longer be available on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass on day one.

They’ll eventually hit those tiers about a year later, during the following holiday season.

That means Call of Duty titles will be the only first-party Xbox games that don’t hit Game Pass on their release date.

This, of course, is an attempt to generate more revenue from one of the biggest gaming franchises in the world.

Call of Duty is a major reason why Microsoft shelled out https://www.engadget.com/activision-blizzard-now-officially-belongs-to-microsoft-125053787.html" target="_blank">$68.7 billion to buy Activision Blizzard a few years back.

While Call of Duty fans on PlayStation still had to pay full price for the last few annual releases to play them as soon as possible, Xbox and PC players have been able to https://www.engadget.com/the-next-call-of-duty-will-reportedly-hit-game-pass-on-its-release-day-142332534.html" target="_blank">hop in to them via Game Pass. (There’s still no sign of https://www.engadget.com/microsoft-makes-its-10-year-call-of-duty-pact-with-nintendo-official-091655095.html" target="_blank">Call of Duty on Switch or Switch 2 as yet!)

There had been rumors that Microsoft would carve out Call of Duty from the current versions of Game Pass and give those tiers a price cut.

Chatter suggests that the company may introduce yet another, higher-level Game Pass tier (or an add-on) that will include day-one Call of Duty games, but there’s no official word of that as yet.