Good news, everyone! Xbox Game Pass is now cheaper. The Ultimate subscription, which Xbox hiked to $30 last October, is dropping down to $23 a month. It’s still 35% more expensive than the subscription was two years ago, and Microsoft will need to consider more drastic changes to its Game Pass model for it to make sense for players.
Microsoft announced the price changes in a terse post to its Xbox Wire blog on Tuesday. In addition to the Ultimate tier price cuts, the PC Game Pass tier now costs $14 a month, a $2.50 cut from its previous $16.50. That latter tier is easily the best package of the bunch. It costs less and still grants access to Xbox-published games on day one, such as the upcoming Forza Horizon 6 and the “pottery party brawler” Kiln from developers Double Fine. The $10 Essential and $15 Premium plans remain unchanged.
Subscribers will lose out on the ability to play the next Call of Duty game on launch day. The official Call of Duty account on X confirmed you’ll get access to the game “the following holiday after launch (about a year later).” That may seem like a loss, but paying for Game Pass Ultimate for Call of Duty never made economic sense. Subscribers who hoped to hop into the game’s multiplayer for at least three months would have spent more than the latest Call of Duty: Black Ops 7’s $70 launch price.
Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players. Starting today, we’re dropping the price from $29.99 to $22.99/month.
Future Call of Duty titles will no longer join Game Pass Ultimate on day one. They will join this tier the following holiday after launch (about…— Asha (@asha_shar) April 21, 2026
In a post on X, Xbox’s recently installed CEO, Asha Sharma, wrote, “Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players.” It’s an admission that the price hike didn’t help grow Xbox’s subscription service. Recent reports from Tom Warren at The Verge indicated Sharma was putting the entire Game Pass model under the microscope, which suggests she could be gearing up for bigger changes soon.
As The Game Business’ Christopher Dring pointed out, the Game Pass model at $30 never added up. Data from industry analyst firm Circana indicated players don’t actually purchase many games. Only 36% of gamers decide to buy four or more titles every year. Just 14% buy more than that. If you pay for Game Pass over 12 months, you will have spent $360, more than the equivalent of five AAA-priced games at $70.
What is the long-term model for Xbox Game Pass? https://t.co/9xszqRsJMO pic.twitter.com/TkdIfgtOml
— The Game Business (@thegamebusiness) April 16, 2026
Now, Game Pass Ultimate costs $276 for an entire year, the equivalent of four AAA games. It may be a value for some, but that’s only if you never plan to buy a game that’s not available on Game Pass. We may be better off ditching the “buffet” model for something more piecemeal. Last week, Dring suggested Xbox could adopt a more open plan for Game Pass. Paying players could receive credits that would let them “purchase” games and add them to their account. One of the touted AAA games may cost more credits than an indie title. It’s just one option, but it sure seems like Microsoft’s new leadership is throwing whatever they can at the wall to see what sticks.
