What Actually Changed: New Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Prices
Microsoft has rolled back part of last year’s controversial Xbox Game Pass price hikes, cutting the top two tiers while leaving cheaper ones untouched. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate drops from USD 29.99 (approx. RM140) to USD 22.99 (approx. RM108) per month, while PC Game Pass falls from USD 16.49 (approx. RM77) to USD 13.99 (approx. RM66). Essential and Premium remain at USD 9.99 (approx. RM46) and USD 14.99 (approx. RM70) with their existing, more limited libraries. That still leaves Ultimate and PC slightly more expensive than they were before the 2025 jump, when Ultimate was USD 19.99 (approx. RM94) and PC Game Pass was USD 11.99 (approx. RM56), but it is a clear move away from the eye-watering 50% and 37.5% increases that sparked mass cancellations. Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma openly admitted that Game Pass had become “too expensive for too many players” and pledged to “create a better value equation.”
The Call of Duty Catch: No More Day-One Access on Game Pass
The new Xbox Game Pass price is cheaper for Ultimate and PC, but shooter fans are paying in another way. Beginning this year, new Call of Duty titles will no longer hit Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass on launch day. Instead, they will arrive “during the following holiday season,” roughly a year after release. Existing entries like past Black Ops and Modern Warfare games remain in the catalog, but the headline perk of day-one Call of Duty on Game Pass is gone. Microsoft’s own data suggests why: Black Ops 6 helped subscriptions, but Black Ops 7’s performance and full-game sales reportedly lagged, even after the aggressive USD 29.99 (approx. RM140) Ultimate pricing. The company is effectively saying that day-one Call of Duty on Game Pass drove up costs without delivering enough long-term growth to justify the lost retail revenue.
How Xbox Is Reframing Value: Library Depth, Indies and Ecosystem Perks
With Call of Duty on Game Pass delayed, Xbox is pivoting the Ultimate and PC tiers toward breadth rather than one blockbuster. Microsoft stresses that subscribers still get “hundreds of games” across console and PC, including current Call of Duty titles, online multiplayer, cloud streaming and major day-one releases from first-party studios. Recent additions such as Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew were meant to sweeten the deal after the earlier hikes, even if many players felt those add-ons did not justify the jump. Under Asha Sharma’s leadership, internal memos and public posts focus on affordability, flexibility and catalog depth rather than stacking expensive tentpoles. Xbox is also pushing cross-subscription play and reach, with Game Pass already present on cloud platforms like GeForce Now and ongoing exploration of integrations such as Discord benefits, aiming to keep Ultimate a central hub of an increasingly platform-agnostic Xbox ecosystem.
Game Pass vs PS Plus and Others: Who Wins on Value Now?
In a market where most subscriptions are going up, the lower Game Pass Ultimate cost stands out. Ultimate at USD 22.99 (approx. RM108) still bundles a large library, day-one first-party drops (outside Call of Duty), online multiplayer and cloud play. PC Game Pass at USD 13.99 (approx. RM66) is less all-inclusive but remains strong for PC-only players. By contrast, rival services have leaned on price rises, smaller day-one lineups, or more fragmented tiers. Where Game Pass leads is in sheer library size plus day-one access to many Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda titles, something PlayStation’s subscriptions rarely match. Where it falls short is on guaranteed access to the single biggest annual shooter and on the recent perception of instability after repeated price and feature changes. The net result: Game Pass is once again competitively priced, but its headline appeal is now broader catalog value rather than one must-have franchise.
Should You Stay Subscribed in 2026? Advice by Player Type
For Call of Duty mains who subscribed purely for day-one access, the math has flipped. You now either buy each new game at full price or wait about a year for it to hit Game Pass; in that case, consider pausing Ultimate around COD launches. For indie fans and RPG grinders, the cheaper Xbox Game Pass Ultimate cost is arguably better than ever: rotating day-one indies, big single-player epics and cloud support make it easy to sample games without commitment. PC-only players who value variety more than launch-day shooters will likely find PC Game Pass at USD 13.99 (approx. RM66) still compelling. Casual racers and sports players who only dip into a few titles each year might be better off downgrading to Essential, or cycling in and out for specific releases. Overall, Xbox’s 2026 reset is about daily active players and reach, not just headline exclusives—so Game Pass now rewards breadth of play rather than annual hype cycles.
