… But not surprising." Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis agrees that "the commercial reasoning for pursuing a subscription-first strategy for new releases the size of CoD has not been realised." "Its inclusion in Game Pass was hoped to turbo-charge the service," he says, "but these short-term in… …
… Sharma said that in the long term, Xbox " will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system , which will take time to test and learn around." Earlier this month, Xbox and Discord announced a partnership offering a "starter edition" of Game Pass to Nitro subscribers. …
… New Call of Duty games will be added to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass "during the following holiday season about a year later ," the company said, while existing Call of Duty titles will remain in user libraries. …
Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma has reportedly stated that Xbox Game Pass pricing will change, noting it has "become too expensive for players." In an internal memo obtained by The Verge , Sharma said the subscription service requires "a better value equation." "Long term, we will evolve Game Pass… …
… Nitro pricing will remain unchanged for subscribers, with the Game Pass starter edition included. Eligible Game Pass subscribers will also receive Discord Nitro benefits starting later this month. …
… Including that third-party offering may explain why Game Pass pricing couldn't return to its original level in this recent reversion, since it presumably has a contractual agreement with Epic Games. …
… Game Pass Ultimate decreased from $29.99 to $22.99 per month, and PC Game Pass was reduced from $16.49 to $13.99. The recent price cuts did not fully offset the 50% increase from October 2025 . Game Pass Ultimate was previously $19.99 on console and $11.99 on PC. …
… Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz in 2022, Pav Bhardwaj, senior global product manager at Xbox Game Pass, said that streaming was a "great alternative" to consoles . In 2025, Microsoft's then-games chief Phil Spencer wrote in a LinkedIn post that its cloud streaming business was on the rise . …
… Bonus currency rewards will also be removed from Fortnite's main battle pass, while the pass itself will decrease in price from 1,000 V-Bucks to 800. Fortnite's three other game passes OG, Lego, and Music will also see a 200 V-Bucks price decrease. …
… "This is like a cross-platform sweet spot for pricing," says Porter. On PC, titles under $30 are more popular, with 26 games in this market segment surpassing $5 million in revenue in 2025, compared to 17 in 2024. …