Microsoft has slashed prices for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass effective immediately, responding to player complaints that the service had grown too expensive under new CEO Asha Sharma's affordability push. However, new Call of Duty titles will no longer arrive on launch day, joining instead about a year later during the following holiday season.
The changes, announced April 21, drop Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $29.99 to $22.99 per month in the US (23% cut) and £22.99 to £16.99 in the UK. PC Game Pass falls from $16.49 to $13.99 in the US (22% reduction) and £13.49 to £10.99 in the UK. Existing Call of Duty games remain available across tiers.
Xbox attributed the move to player feedback: “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. We’ll continue to listen and learn,” per Xbox Wire. CEO Asha Sharma, who replaced Phil Spencer in February, echoed this on social media: “Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players. We’ll keep learning and evolving Game Pass to better match what players matter to.” Her earlier leaked internal memo, reported by The Verge, called for a 'better value equation' and long-term flexibility, following hikes like Ultimate's 50% jump to $29.99 last October ahead of Black Ops 7.
Game Pass launched in 2017 at $10 monthly but saw repeated increases, including 2024 hikes scrutinized by the FTC over Activision merger promises. Last October's surge crashed the cancellation page. Bloomberg reported Microsoft lost $300 million in direct Call of Duty sales after adding the series to Game Pass in 2024, with muted subscriber growth.
