Microsoft officially dropped the price of Xbox Game Pass today, giving subscribers the cheapest rates they’ve seen in years. The cuts look generous on paper. In practice, they come with a significant trade-off: Call of Duty games will no longer hit the service on launch day.
Xbox Game Pass New Prices
Effective from April 21, 2026, Microsoft lowered two Game Pass tiers:
| Tier | Old Price | New Price | Monthly Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game Pass Ultimate | $29.99 | $22.99 | $7.00 |
| PC Game Pass | $16.49 | $13.99 | $2.50 |
Everything currently in either subscription stays. Microsoft confirmed that the existing library — including current Call of Duty titles like Black Ops 7 — remains available to all members.
Call of Duty Leaves Day-One Game Pass
Starting with the next CoD release — widely reported to be Modern Warfare 4 from Infinity Ward — Microsoft will no longer add new Call of Duty games to Game Pass on launch day. Instead, each new entry arrives on the service the following holiday season, roughly a year after its retail debut.
If you want MW4 at launch, you pay full price: $69.99 or more. Subscribers who wait get it for free in late 2027.
Microsoft also teased plans to bring additional classic CoD titles to the library over the next year, which could include entries like Black Ops Cold War.
Why Microsoft Removed Call of Duty from Game Pass Day-One Access
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma drove this change. Earlier this month, a leaked internal memo quoted her calling Game Pass “too expensive for players.” Her team landed on this solution: trim costs for subscribers by removing the single most expensive content deal baked into the service.
The math is straightforward. Call of Duty is one of gaming’s biggest revenue drivers. A new CoD title sells at $69.99 across nearly every platform. Putting it into a subscription service on day one directly undercuts those premium sales. Microsoft absorbed that revenue loss for two years — covering Black Ops 6 in 2024 and Black Ops 7 in 2025 — before deciding the trade-off no longer made sense.
“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,” Sharma said in a statement on Xbox Wire. “We’ll continue to listen and learn.”
This price drop lands roughly six months after Microsoft controversially raised Game Pass prices — a hike that sparked widespread subscriber cancellations. To justify that increase, Microsoft bundled in new perks like Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft Classics. Many subscribers felt the additions didn’t justify the extra cost.
The reversal today essentially acknowledges that Microsoft overcorrected. By removing Call of Duty from the day-one lineup, the company found room to bring prices back down without eliminating other perks.
Why Gaming Subscription Models Are Changing in 2026
Microsoft isn’t alone in rethinking its pricing strategy. The entire gaming industry is navigating a rough stretch:
- Nintendo now offers $10 discounts on digital versions of select first-party games. Splatoon Raiders follows Yoshi and the Mysterious Book with a reduced digital price.
- Sony runs dynamic pricing experiments, offering personalized discounts designed to convert players who wouldn’t otherwise spend.
- All three platform holders have raised hardware prices in recent years, and an ongoing AI-driven memory chip shortage makes further console price increases likely.
Against this backdrop, Microsoft’s price cut stands out — but analysts warn it may be short-lived good news. Rumors suggest that Project Helix, Microsoft’s upcoming console-PC hybrid, could carry a price tag that brings sticker shock right back.
Should You Still Buy Game Pass After the Call of Duty Change?
If you’re a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber who doesn’t play Call of Duty: This is a straightforward win. You pay $7 less per month and lose nothing from your library.
If you’re a CoD fan who relied on Game Pass for day-one access: You now face a choice — pay full retail price at launch, or wait roughly a year for the Game Pass release. For players who complete CoD campaigns within a month and move on, the wait likely saves money. For competitive multiplayer diehards who need to play the moment servers go live, the full price is the only option.
If you’ve been sitting on the fence about Game Pass: The lower entry point makes it easier to justify, especially with hundreds of day-one titles still included across Xbox and PC.
What You Still Get With Game Pass
Despite the change, the core value of Game Pass remains intact. Subscribers still have access to:
- Hundreds of games on Xbox console and PC, including current Call of Duty titles
- Day-one releases for non-CoD titles
- Xbox Cloud Gaming
- Online console multiplayer
- In-game benefits and perks
Microsoft confirmed this pricing takes effect today, April 21, 2026. The next Call of Duty game has not yet received an official announcement or release date.
