Today, Microsoft announced a substantial change to the pricing of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, but this time, it’s not a hike.
The price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has been dropped, effective immediately, from $29.99 to $22.99 a month
The price of PC Game Pass received a smaller cut, rom $16.49 to $13.99 a month.
This partly reverses the large price hike the service received last October.
The caveat is that new Call of Duty games won’t be included in the service on day one, but will instead arrive approximately one year after, during the next holiday season.
This means that the yearly price for Game Pass Ultimate is now $275.88 compared to $359.88. This means that if you really want Call of Duty on the day it releases, you can buy it with the $84 you save and even keep some change.
If you are subscribed to PC Game Pass, the yearly saving is smaller, $30, as the service goes from $197.88 for a year to $167.88.
Microsoft motivated the change with the mention that players cover a wide variety of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone.
It has been painted as a response to feedback received from users, and comes with the pledge to continue to listen and learn.
Incidentally, this is the first sweeping change brought by the new Microsoft Gaming CEO, Asha Sharma, after she took over from Phil Spencer in February. It’ll be interesting to see whether there will be more.
