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Microsoft announce ‘Game Pass,’ price reduction, popular franchise won’t be day one launch

Person playing Xbox
FILE PHOTO (SEBASTIAN GORA/sebastiangora - stock.adobe.com)

Microsoft announced its lowering the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and its PC Game Pass. After receiving backlash for increasing the price in October 2025, the price for Ultimate will go from $29.99 to $22.99, and PC Game Pass will go from $16.49 to $13.99.

The Verge reported that, in an internal memo, new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said “Game Pass has become too expensive for players,” and the company needs a “better value equation.”

The lowest tier of Xbox Game Pass, Essential, remains $9.99, and the middle tier, Premium, will still be $14.99.

Microsoft also announced that future titles of the popular first-person shooter “Call of Duty” will not be on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass. Microsoft says the new Call of Duty games will be added the following holiday season (about a year later).

“Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will continue to have access to hundreds of games on Xbox console and PC including current Call of Duty titles, in-game benefits, online console multiplayer, and major day one releases,” said Microsoft on its website. “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. We’ll continue to listen and learn.”

You can find more information on Xbox Game Pass on the Xbox website.

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Chase Bunker

Chase Bunker, News 104.5 WOKV

Chase Bunker is a reporter and evening anchor for WOKV. Chase comes to Jacksonville from sister station WDBO in Orlando where he worked as a producer and a fill-in reporter and host.

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