Xbox taking Call of Duty off Game Pass is actually a win for everyone

A cost-saving measure

On Tuesday, Xbox announced a price reduction for Game Pass Ultimate going forward — from $29.99 to $22.99 per month. It also announced that future Call of Duty titles won’t be available on the subscription service on day one. Instead, new installments will join the subscription service almost a year after they're initially released, during the following holiday season. Every Call of Duty title that is currently available will remain in the Game Pass library, however, which includes the entire Modern Warfare reboot subseries (1, 2, and 3), Black Ops 6 and 7, and WWII.

For Call of Duty players, this may seem like a net loss. Rather than being able to play the new release immediately, rumored to be Modern Warfare 4 this year, they'll need to pay full price, which will most likely be around $70. But then you do the math: Game Pass Ultimate is now $7 cheaper per month. Over the course of a full year, that's $84 saved, so Call of Duty fans get buy the new game and have cash left over.

This decision follows a Bloomberg report from October last year, which claims Microsoft lost $300 million in sales thanks to its decision to make Black Ops 6 a day one Game Pass title. That same month, Microsoft increased the Game Pass Ultimate price by $10, presumably in an effort to make up the shortfall.

It's likely this steep cost increase turned many subscribers away, and removing Call of Duty launch titles from the offering is the most obvious way to reduce the fee for users and entice them back, because it's such a prestigious series and Microsoft will likely save a significant amount as a result. However, this price cut still leaves Game Pass Ultimate at $3 more each month than it was six months ago. There are a few extra perks included now though, including a Fortnite Crew membership and the Ubisoft Classics catalog.

It's fair to say those additional benefits aren't for everyone, though. Reddit user AtrociousSandwich wants Xbox to remove the Fortnite perks and reduce the cost further. Redditor Kreeth12 agrees, and also want to stop all day one Game Pass releases. (Plenty of replies point out that the day one launches are the primary reason lots of players even have the Ultimate tier of Game Pass in the first place.)

So, Call of Duty players with an interest in other games on Game Pass will save money over the course of the year; Game Pass subscribers who aren't bothered about playing Call of Duty on launch will save even more; and Call of Duty players who only want to play the FPS game likely weren't subscribed to Game Pass in the first place.

Who loses in this situation? Well, fewer players now have access to the latest game, but both Microsoft and Activision want to bring back lapsed players who were once dedicated, those who are also likely to spend money on skins and bundles. Someone checking it out for the first time because it's available via their Game Pass catalog as they browse for something new to play is unlikely to fall into that target audience.

Black Ops 7 also didn't move the needle much, both in terms of critical reception and player count compared to previous games in the series, so there's a lot riding on the next release. The hope may be that returning to the arguably more famous subseries, Modern Warfare (if the rumors are true, that is), will bring back players tired of the Black Ops approach. In theory, more players would come through the door if it were available on Game Pass, but perhaps they're hoping those who will buy the game at full price on release will offset that. The only surefire aspect is that Call of Duty's reputation is currently lower than it's possibly ever been, and it's no longer the service-seller it used to be.

If you’re a regular Call of Duty player, there's very little appeal in the games being added to the service a year after release. Being almost entirely a multiplayer-focused series with annual releases, the vast majority of the player base moves over to the next game as soon as possible. But for the type of people who subscribe to Game Pass, where the emphasis is on retro titles and catching up with recent history, it’s a way to ensure anyone can play the single player campaigns whenever they like. (Although we'd welcome the Call of Duty back catalogue too, which X user Ernie McCracken also wants.)

It feels like Call of Duty is at a pivotal point in its long journey right now. Dwindling player counts, poor critical reception, but a huge opportunity to capitalise on either returning to the oft-favored Modern Warfare or creating something entirely new within the franchise awaits. It's one of the biggest titans in gaming, but is it too big to fall?