Ultimate gets a price cut – and the Call of Duty catch
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has finally backed away from last year’s brutal price hike. The top tier has dropped from USD 29.99 (approx. RM140) to USD 22.99 (approx. RM108) a month, while PC Game Pass has fallen from USD 16.49 (approx. RM77) to USD 13.99 (approx. RM66). That’s still more than the pre‑2025 pricing, but it’s a meaningful rollback on what had quickly become an unsustainable subscription for many players. The trade‑off is all about Call of Duty. New entries in the franchise will no longer launch on Game Pass; instead, they’ll arrive about a year later, around the next holiday season. Existing Call of Duty titles in the Game Pass library stay put for now, but anyone who was relying on Game Pass as a way to play each year’s CoD campaign or multiplayer at launch will need to go back to buying the game outright.
New conversion rules: when stacking time still makes sense
Alongside the Xbox Game Pass price cut, Microsoft quietly tweaked how cheaper memberships convert into Ultimate when you upgrade. Prepaid time on other tiers can still be turned into up to 36 months of Ultimate, but the conversion percentages have changed. Xbox Game Pass Essential now converts at 45% of remaining time, PC Game Pass at 60%, Premium at 65%, Game Pass for Console at 50%, and EA Play at 25%. In practice, that means 90 days of Essential becomes 40 days of Ultimate, 90 days of PC Game Pass becomes 54 days, and 90 days of Premium becomes 59 days. For long‑term users, that slightly improves the value of Premium and Essential conversions compared with late 2025, while PC and Console convert a bit worse. If you’re eyeing Ultimate but currently sit on cheaper codes, it’s still worth converting — especially before any further structural changes or modular “pick your own” offerings complicate the maths.
Game Pass Starter Edition and the Discord Nitro bundle
The most intriguing leak is Xbox Game Pass Starter Edition, a new low‑price tier seemingly designed as a taste of Game Pass rather than the full buffet. Datamined marketing copy from Discord describes Starter Edition as including access to 50+ games such as Stardew Valley, Fallout 4 and Grounded, alongside 10 hours of Xbox Cloud Gaming each month and the ability to earn Xbox Rewards. Crucially, this tier is expected to be bundled at no extra charge with the USD 9.99 (approx. RM47) Discord Nitro subscription. That instantly creates a compelling perk for heavy Discord users who might otherwise skip Game Pass. Reports suggest Starter Edition will probably also be sold separately and may sit below the existing Essential tier, which already offers 50+ games and unlimited cloud streaming. Expect Starter to feel more like a curated sampler with strict cloud limits than a true replacement for full console or PC access.
Discord Nitro perks and a more modular, ‘pick your own Game Pass’ future
Starter Edition is part of a broader shift toward flexibility. Xbox’s new CEO Asha Sharma has openly teased an expanded Discord partnership aimed at making Game Pass “more flexible,” and datamined Nitro banners already show how tightly the two services could be linked. At the same time, reliable reporting says Microsoft is exploring a modular, pick your own Game Pass model. Instead of one expensive bundle, players could choose add‑ons: day‑one first‑party access, cloud gaming, or extras like World of Warcraft, Minecraft Realms, Netflix and even Discord Nitro itself. For players who never touch Fortnite Crew, CoD, or cloud, the idea is you stop paying for features you don’t use. The downside is complexity and the risk of regret if you drop first‑party day‑one access and then a must‑play exclusive appears. Still, in an era of subscription fatigue, a build‑your‑own library could be exactly what keeps Game Pass competitive.
Who actually wins now – and which tier should you pick?
Different players will feel these changes very differently. Budget‑conscious console users are the clear winners: the Ultimate price cut plus future cheap tiers like Starter Edition and the existing Essential option make it easier to stay in the ecosystem without paying for everything. PC‑only players benefit from a lower PC Game Pass price, though they lose day‑one Call of Duty access just like console owners. Multi‑platform gamers who buy CoD on another system might be happy to trade that launch‑day perk for a cheaper Game Pass library on Xbox or PC. Dedicated CoD fans who relied on Ultimate to avoid an annual purchase are the ones hit hardest. Right now, Ultimate still makes sense if you play across console, PC, cloud and care about day‑one first‑party titles beyond CoD. If you mostly want a small library and occasional cloud, hold off and watch for official Starter Edition launch details and any confirmed pick your own Game Pass bundles later this year.
