Xbox Game Pass Price Increase Reportedly Tied to Loss of Sales on Call of Duty

By Farouk Kannout | October 6, 2025 | 11:30am

Video Games News Xbox

Xbox Game Pass Price Increase Reportedly Tied to Loss of Sales on Call of Duty

Bloomberg reports that Microsoft’s recent price hike of Game Pass may be tied to significant losses in sales on major titles such as the Call of Duty franchise. Bloomberg spoke with a former employee who revealed that Xbox gave up more than $300 million in sales of the flagship franchise, and that 82% of sales of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was for Sony’s PlayStation.

Microsoft announced a number of changes to Game Pass on Oct. 1, most notably a 50% price hike to $30 a month for the highest tier in the subscription service. The changes have been incredibly unpopular, so much so that many subscribers have been racing to cancel their subscriptions to the point of crashing the Microsoft site.

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Bloomberg interviewed seven current and former Xbox employees, who revealed that the company making some of its most popular titles available on Game Pass from the very first day of release is significantly affecting revenue, and the subscription based model has yet to generate the level of revenue Xbox is looking for since launching eight years ago. “Game Pass hasn’t delivered the explosive growth Microsoft anticipated post-Activision, and they’ve realized their infrastructure costs don’t align with their pricing model,” said video game analytics firm founder Joost Van Dreunen.

Xbox has largely lost the “console wars” to Sony’s PlayStation and Nintendo’s Switch, both of which have developed a vast library of exclusive titles and franchises which have consistently been hits with fans. Microsoft has instead been acquiring successful game studios, and attempting to make the streaming service model normally attributed to film and television work for games. The company’s 2023 acquisition of Activision Blizzard cost $69 billion, making it the largest video game acquisition in history. Microsoft told a UK regulator that one of the main reasons for the purchase was to acquire new titles for Game Pass.

After seeing a surge during the pandemic, Game Pass’s rate of growth slowed from 80% between 2020 and 2021 to 36% between 2022 and 2024. In 2024 alone, Microsoft cut over 2,000 jobs, and 2025 has seen more layoffs with at least four games canceled. Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft Amy Hood has asked Xbox to find other ways to increase profit, according to current and former employees.

For now, Xbox Game Pass still exists in its latest and most expensive form yet. Fans will have to pay $30 for access to over 400 games, including 75 that will be available the same day they are released for consoles. That list includes new and popular titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and The Outer Worlds 2.