Microsoft has rolled out a notable pricing change for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, slashing the monthly cost from $29.99 down to $22.99 starting today, according to Noisy Pixel. PC Game Pass is also seeing some relief, dropping from $16.49 to $13.99 per month, though Microsoft notes pricing may vary depending on your region.
The cuts are a welcome move for subscribers who've felt the squeeze since the service's last major price hike. Getting Ultimate under the $23 mark makes the value proposition a lot easier to justify, especially with the library of first-party titles Microsoft has been building out.
The Call of Duty trade-off
There's a catch buried in the announcement, though. Per the same report from Noisy Pixel, Microsoft is also changing how future Call of Duty entries will be handled within the subscription. Rather than landing on Game Pass at launch, upcoming titles in the franchise will be delayed before hitting the service.
This is a significant shift from what many subscribers had come to expect. Call of Duty has been one of the biggest draws for Game Pass since Microsoft completed its acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and day-one access to blockbuster releases has been a core part of the subscription's pitch to consumers.
It's worth noting this applies to future entries in the series - existing Call of Duty titles already on Game Pass aren't going anywhere. But if you're the type of player who jumps into the next Call of Duty the moment it drops, you may need to factor in either a separate purchase or a wait before it becomes available through your subscription.
Weighing the value
Whether this feels like a fair trade depends heavily on how you use the service. For players who graze across a wide variety of games and aren't laser-focused on Call of Duty at launch, the price reduction is a straightforward win. For the CoD-first crowd, the calculus gets a bit murkier.
Microsoft hasn't specified how long the delay window will be for future Call of Duty titles before they arrive on Game Pass, which leaves a meaningful question unanswered. That detail will go a long way toward determining whether this restructuring lands as a reasonable business decision or a noticeable step back in subscriber value.
Either way, the lower price floor gives Microsoft a stronger pitch to newcomers who might have been put off by the previous $29.99 ask for Ultimate.
