Xbox Game Pass makes huge pricing change thanks to Call of Duty

Gamers aren't happy unless they're moaning about something, but apparently, if you complain enough to Microsoft, you might be able to get your own way.

Like there are continued complaints about price hikes for subscription services like Netflix and Disney+, the gaming crowd is also up in arms whenever Sony or Microsoft thinks of adding a single cent to the cost of their packages.

While the Blue Team has PlayStation Plus, many agree that the Green Team gets more value for money with Xbox's Game Pass. It's no secret that Microsoft is said to make a loss on every Xbox console it rolls off the conveyor belt, but with gamers throwing their money at Game Pass' Ultimate tier to play over 400 titles on console and PC, it's a popular offering.

Things got even better with the $75.4 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, meaning the Call of Duty catalog now falls under the Xbox umbrella.

What is the new price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate?

While Microsoft was never going to be foolish enough to shackle CoD entirely to the Xbox, all those years of PlayStation perks seemed like a distant memory.

More than this, 2025's Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 was a day-one release on Game Pass – marking another first for the franchise.

It's all change over at Xbox, and as well as intrigue over the mysterious Project Helix and a concerning price tag, Phil Spencer has been swapped out with Asha Sharma, becoming the new CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

A leaked memo recently suggested that Sharma wasn't happy with the cost of Game Pass, but whadya know, now it's getting a price cut?

Xbox has just announced that Game Pass Ultimate has been reduced to $22.99 a month from its previous $29.99 per month. Similarly, PC Game Pass will now cost $13.99 instead of $16.49.

While gamers are cheering the change, it comes at an obvious cost.

What will happen to Call of Duty 2026’s Game Pass release?

Moving forward, Call of Duty games are no longer getting a day-one release. Instead, future entries in the shooter series will be added "during the following holiday season (about a year later)."

Call of Duty games already in any tier will be unaffected by these changes.

Over on Xbox Wire, the company wrote: "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."

While you might expect CoD fans to be up in arms that they won't be able to play the heavily rumored Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward as part of their Game Pass subscription, others were overjoyed.

On the Call of Duty Reddit, one person wrote: "Let’s f**king go. Dropping the price of Ultimate and PC Game Pass is awesome. I still probably won’t get ultimate as there’s no need because I use a pc mainly but $14/month is great."

Another added: "Honestly might resub now. $30 a month was insane but 22 is far closer to what it used to be, and I buy the new Call of Duty on bnet anyways."

A third said: "Definitely good decision since most definitely didn’t want to pay $10 extra per month to play cod games on gamepass."

Of course, not everyone was sold. One skeptic chimed in saying: "Definitely gonna lose more players now gonna be hilarious especially with GTA coming out this year, I definitely won't be buying or playing CoD like I did for 3 years before it came on gamepass."

Someone else concluded: "The only reason I was buying BP or blackcell every season was because I was not buying the game as it was included in the GP. I guess that’s gone. What a sh*tty decision. Could have left COD in Ultimate and create a lower tier without it, but not enough money to milk from COD players this way."

If you're an Xbox owner and not a fan of CoD, it looks like this could be a big win.