Microsoft just made Game Pass cheaper, and it's all thanks to Call of Duty

Microsoft has announced that, effective today, it will be cutting the price of Game Pass, following a report last week that fledgling gaming division CEO Asha Sharma believed that it had become "too expensive" for players. However, the monkey's paw has curled for Call of Duty players, as future releases from the iconic franchise will no longer be coming to the subscription service at launch.

As revealed in a new Xbox Wire post, Game Pass Ultimate will be dropping from $29.99 to $22.99 a month, while PC Game Pass players will also save a couple of bucks on accessing some of the best PC games around. The plan will now set you back $13.99 a month, down from $16.49. It's a significant reduction, particularly at a time when everything only seems to be getting more expensive. There had been plenty of mutterings when Sharma took the helm back in February, but I honestly can't believe it's happened. Don't get me wrong, it's still more expensive to sub than it was before Microsoft's big price hike in October last year, but at this point, we take what we can get.

Of course, there's a catch, and it's a substantial one if you're a Call of Duty enjoyer. Starting this year, new instalments in the FPS game series won't be available on the service immediately. Microsoft says they will instead be added to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass "the following holiday season (about a year later)." Effectively, you won't be able to play this year's CoD on Game Pass until it has already cycled out of relevance.

At the very least, the Xbox Wire post states that Game Pass will continue to host all of the existing CoD games it currently offers. Additionally, if you still intend to play this year's game, the savings from today's Game Pass price drop will cover a copy. In that sense, everyone wins, but more so folks who don't care for CoD.

Last week, The Verge obtained an internal memo from Sharma. In it, the Xbox boss said that Game Pass "has become too expensive for players," and that "a better value equation" was needed. Change has come thick and fast, and it's certainly a big step in the right direction towards winning players back.