Summary
- Microsoft is lowering the price of Game Pass Ultimate to $22.99 and PC Game Pass to $13.99 per month.
- New Call of Duty releases skip day-one on Game Pass — they’ll join the service the following holiday.
- Fans mostly welcome the cuts, though prices remain above last year’s.
Lately, it feels like prices go up every day, especially in the tech space. So when a major brand actually lowers prices, it’s a bit shocking. That’s how it feels today — on April 21, Microsoft announced it was lowering prices on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (along with some other changes).
I own 3 PC gaming handhelds, and this is the one I barely use
Until Linux gets serious about multiplayer gaming, my Steam Deck will collect dust while I play on my Windows gaming handhelds instead.
Xbox Game Pass price changes
Down, down, down
The big news is the price drop on Game Pass Ultimate, which is going from $29.99 to $22.99 per month — a pretty substantial drop. PC Game Pass (which is great with Windows 11’s Full Screen Experience) is also decreasing, from $16.99 to $13.99 per month. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma announced the change on X, stating that the subscription had become “too expensive for too many players.”
These changes follow some pretty controversial price increases from late last year. In October of 2025, the price of Game Pass Ultimate jumped from $19.99 to $29.99 per month — a 50% bump. Although it’s never been outright confirmed, there’s been a lot of speculation that this massive price hike caused a substantial number of subscribers to jump ship.
The new price drop would seem to confirm that — as much as I want to believe Microsoft is just trying to help people out or build some goodwill, I can’t imagine the company would just lower the price this much if it wasn’t feeling the heat. The change also comes on the heels of a string of bad press for the company, including major complaints about the direction of the Windows operating system and issues with Windows developer accounts.
It’s also worth noting that the price is still higher than it was last year — just not as high. A $3 bump is certainly a lot easier to stomach than a $10 one, though, and while it’s easy to be cynical, a pro-consumer move in the current economic climate feels like a breath of fresh air.
Call of Duty changes
The price drops aren’t the only change announced today. If you read the tweet above, you probably caught that there are also some Call of Duty changes happening. Here’s the breakdown:
- Starting this year, future Call of Duty games will not be available on Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch.
- These new titles will be added during the following holiday season — so about a year after release.
- Existing CoD titles already in the library will remain available.
So, the price changes aren’t entirely without a catch. However, this change seems reasonable — CoD fans can still buy the game outright, while everyone else enjoys the lower prices.
Reception to the Game Pass changes
You can’t please everyone
In general, these price changes have been well-received on platforms like Reddit:
Even those who noted that the price was still higher seemed generally pleased:
Of course, not everyone is happy:
What do you think? If you were on the fence, will this change keep you around? And if you canceled your sub, is this enough to entice you back? Let us know!
- Brand
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Microsoft
- Operating System
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Xbox system software
- Storage
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1TB
- VR Support
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No
- Resolution
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4K
- App Store
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Microsoft Store
The Xbox Series X is the latest generation of Microsoft’s hit console. It supports 4K resolution at 60 fps and is powered by a custom AMD Zen 2 CPU, a custom RD NA 2 GPU, and 16 GB of RAM.
