New Call of Duty video games will now not be a part of Xbox’s Game Pass | Games

Microsoft’s gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass can be coming down in value from at the moment, however future Call of Duty titles will now not be obtainable on the service at launch. Other video games from Microsoft-owned studios will nonetheless be playable on Game Pass from the day of their launch, and older Call of Duty video games will stay obtainable, the corporate has clarified.

Last October, Microsoft elevated the worth of its top-tier Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription by virtually 50%. From at the moment the worth will cut back from £22.99/month to £16.99/month within the UK, and from $29.99 to $22.99 a month within the US. PC Game Pass may also drop from $16.49 to $13.99/£13.49 to £10.99 a month.

Microsoft acquired the developer of the blockbuster Call of Duty sequence, Activision, in 2023 in a $68.7bn deal, and 2024’s Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was the primary recreation within the sequence to launch on Game Pass. A Bloomberg report citing a former Xbox worker estimated that Microsoft misplaced $300m in gross sales because of making Call of Duty a part of its all-you-can-play service. Forthcoming Call of Duty video games will now retail at full value (normally £70/$80), and can arrive on Game Pass round a 12 months after launch.

Microsoft Gaming boss Asha Sharma introduced the adjustments on X. On 13 April, she despatched a memo to Xbox employees stating that Game Pass was getting too costly, as reported by The Verge.

Game Pass has been on the coronary heart of Xbox’s technique for the final 9 years, as Microsoft has tried to maneuver away from the console {hardware} enterprise (by which it has trailed rivals Sony and Nintendo because the troubled launch of the Xbox One in 2013) and in the direction of a Netflix-style streaming mannequin that places its video games on extra units. Since 2024, it has been releasing Microsoft Studios video games on PlayStation and Nintendo Switch in addition to its personal Xbox {hardware}. Microsoft has spent greater than $86bn buying recreation builders since 2014, starting with a $2.5bn deal for Minecraft developer Mojang.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella claimed in a conference call that Game Pass introduced in almost $5bn within the 2025 monetary 12 months; former Xbox chief Sarah Bond claimed that it’s a worthwhile enterprise for each Microsoft and the opposite builders who put their video games on the platform.