Xbox Finally Lowers Price For Game Pass, But Is It Enough?

As a surprise to no one, given recent rumors and speculation, Xbox has officially confirmed that it is reducing the price of Xbox Game Pass.

"Game Pass Ultimate has become too expensive for too many players," Asha Sharma, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, announced on social media this morning. "Starting today, we’re dropping the price from $29.99 to $22.99/month."

It's not exactly a cause for celebration, though, as the reduced price comes with a detraction. Sharma also announced that future Call of Duty titles will no longer be joining Game Pass on day one. Instead, they'll become a part of Game Pass Ultimate "the following holiday after a launch," which is roughly one year after their release. This change does not affect the current Call of Duty games on Game Pass.

Sharma finished the announcement by saying that the company will "keep learning and evolving Game Pass to better match what matters to players." It's something that has been at the forefront of gamers' minds for quite some time, even before Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond's departure from the company. At launch, Xbox Game Pass was priced aggressively enough that people wouldn't mind paying the monthly subscription fee. With recent price hikes for Game Pass, along with literally everything else, consumers are starting to push back and cancel services such as Game Pass and Netflix.

Xbox Game Pass Still Doesn't Feel Like "The Best Deal in Gaming" After Its Price Decrease

Part of the initial hype around the Game Pass model was paying $15 a month for its library of games, along with every first-party day one release from Microsoft.

That was back in 2019, and a lot has changed since then. Microsoft has not only acquired several major publishers, including Bethesda and Activision Blizzard King, but has also begun incorporating various add-on bonuses into its Game Pass subscription. Some of them, such as the inclusion of select Electronic Arts games through EA Play and Ubisoft+, are beneficial. It expands the Game Pass library and gives me access to titles through subscription services I otherwise wouldn't pay for, because I already have too many subscriptions.

Others, however, I could do without. I would much rather be paying $15 a month for all the perks of Game Pass Ultimate and forgo the Fortnite Crew benefit, which includes access to various Battle Passes and a monthly allowance of 1,000 V-Bucks. Coincidentally, 1,000 V-Bucks will run you $8.99. I'm throwing away over $100 a year for something I, and many other Game Pass subscribers, will never use.

There's no denying that this is a step in the right direction for the Xbox brand. They've been losing the messaging battle for a decade now, throwing away all the good fortune they amassed from the Xbox 360 generation on that fateful day in 2013 when they revealed the Xbox One console. It's weird, too, because despite the price increases, having an Xbox Game Pass subscription saved me money. It will continue to save me money this year, with 2026 already off to an incredible start, with games like Vampire Crawlers, Hades 2, Forza Horizon 6, and Replaced all coming to Game Pass this spring alone.

It doesn't matter, though, how stacked Game Pass' library is if people feel like it's too expensive. Today's price reduction is a start, but Asha Sharma and company still have a lot of work ahead to repair the Xbox brand's reputation.