A Microsoft Xbox sign appeared at the Gamescom conference in Cologne, Germany on August 21, 2025.
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microsoft On Tuesday, the company announced it would lower the cost of a subscription that includes access to hundreds of video games, after the company’s new gaming leader promised to “recommit to our core Xbox fans and players.”
Microsoft said in a blog post that Game Pass Ultimate, its flagship service that allows gamers to download titles on PC and Xbox consoles and stream games on mobile devices, has been reduced from $29.99 to $22.99 per month. The more exclusive PC Game Pass is now $13.99, up from $16.49.
Upcoming titles in the popular “Call of Duty” franchise will no longer be part of the two subscriptions as soon as they launch. Alternatively, gamers can purchase titles when they are released (the latest one costs $69.99). Or you can wait until the next holiday season release and play the older version in the meantime.
The changes represent an attempt to rebuild the Xbox business from former Asha Sharma. Meta The executive who replaced Phil Spencer as Microsoft’s head of games in February.
Games accounted for 7% of Microsoft’s total revenue in the fourth quarter. Revenue for the segment was down about 10% year over year, but Azure cloud, LinkedIn, Microsoft 365 productivity services and Dynamics business software all grew at least 10%. Hardware sales fell 32% after Microsoft stopped development of two games, “Everwild” and “Perfect Dark.”
Microsoft’s finance chief Amy Hood said on a conference call that Xbox revenue from content and services, a metric that excludes hardware sales, was below internal expectations. She announced an unspecified impairment charge in its gaming business, which it expanded with its $75.4 billion acquisition of “Call of Duty” publisher Activision Blizzard in 2023.
The Verge reported earlier this month that Sharma told employees in a memo that Game Pass was too expensive. Microsoft increased the price of Game Pass Ultimate by $10 in October to $29.99 per month. The company announced that as of 2024, Game Pass will have 34 million subscribers.
“Our players cover a wide range of geographies, tastes, and preferences, so there’s no one model that’s best for everyone, but this change is in response to a lot of feedback we’ve received over time,” Microsoft said in a blog post on Tuesday.
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