New COD Sales 'Estimate' Helps Explain Xbox's Price Hike For Day One Game Pass Releases

It’s a shame that a lot of turmoil all comes back to CoD.

I wish we could stick with the previous price and leave CoD out of it

I've said a number of times that people would join Game Pass for a month in order to play CoD and then quit soon after. That short-term boost is not as good for business as someone actually buying the game. If they join and remain for a whole year, then yes, that's good for Game Pass. However, if they join for a month and leave, then that's hurts the overall money brought in by CoD.

It's no wonder we've seen these massive prices rises, and let's not forget, the price of Game Pass went up last year right before the release of CoD on Game Pass, so this strategy is clearly not working as intended, and we are all paying for it...

Should’ve locked Day 1 CoD behind an annual subscription to GPU - that way gamers couldn’t dip into for a month, play the game and then exit.

Much more gamer friendly than locking it behind Fortnight Crew, Ubi old stuff and a massive price hike.

@Fiendish-Beaver thats exactly it. How many folks signed up for a £1 trial, played arguably one of the biggest releases of the year, cancelled and moved on.

This focus on sub numbers is ridiculous. The whole 'heavy surge' in subs means nothing when financials actually showed the number shrank over all (@themightyant did a good number breakdown at the time). They also dont release actual sub numbers so who knows what they increased by.

Everything just feels like smoke and mirrors at the moment, all with the bitter taste of a 50% price increase lingering.

Yeah so they didnt the explosive growth post Activision, well i'm sure the price increase will deliver the explosive growth they want! I never play COD so if the price increase is down to day one COD future relases on GPU then gee thanks MS.

@Weebleman The answer to that question is zero because there was no $1 trial for Game Pass Ultimate when CoD Black Ops 6 was released. Microsoft knows people will try to pull stunts like that, so they deliberately get rid of the free trials for Ultimate in the weeks before and after one of their major releases.

They thought COD on game pass day one would totally accelerate game pass sales.
And maybe even Xbox console sales a little.

And guess what and we all knew this, everybody mainly stuck to their platform of choice and paid for it, ie PlayStation or PC.

Microsoft have some really really really dump analysts and forecasters working for them that are so out of touch with the gaming industry.

I mean Xbox consoles had just over 50% of the game pass subscriptions over millions of other devices. And guess what they let the Xbox console die and so did the game pass subscriptions.

@Aidax89 Like with consoles, it seems Microsoft isn't in the consumer acquisition phase for Game Pass anymore. At least, not for the Ultimate tier, they're still trying to find growth on PC w/ PC Game Pass.

So, in their eyes, they probably don't care about growing Game Pass Ultimate subs that much anymore, and they just want to generate more money off of the existing subscribers. If enough people continue to subscribe to the Ultimate tier, the $10 price increase will more than make up for those who canceled their subscriptions. And they'll be making more profit than they did beforehand.

Of course, I don't know if this is actually the case, but this is likely Microsoft's mindset.

@OldGamer999 What I don't understand is that Microsoft really wanted to grow Game Pass and reach 100 million subscribers. Yet halfway through reaching that goal, they decided to stop caring about selling Xbox consoles completely, and they did this "everything is an Xbox" ad campaign.

Microsoft seemingly doesn't realize that, if they actually tried to sell Xbox consoles, Game Pass would have grown considerably as well, because most GP users are on console, not PC or cloud.

They cannot grow Game Pass by a massive amount with the strategy they're using now. They need to actually put in effort to sell their consoles in order to do so.

Not playing COD Games cancelled my ultimate subscription, now a premium member. I will see if it suits me in the next months if not I will cancel my subscription to game pass.

I enjoy CoD a lot and I don't need Game Pass for it. It's my most played online game in the last years, so I buy these games.
The price increase is through and I hope it finally pushes classic sales again.

Only shareholders would think activision games would increase gamepass sub.

COD has two audiences the online guys who play year round (they obviously buy it) then the campaigners who now found out they could play it with their existing gamepass sub.

Microsoft acquisition of activision and the estimated 300mill lost is Microsoft subsidising every campaign only player, who don’t carelesss about cod after 6 hours. Cheers Ms

@Questionable_Duck The point is that you don’t need a console to play gamepass and once the new generations get this message gamepass would do much better than an underperforming console.

Eventually gamepass will be an app on tvs for streaming that is the intention.

@Mincey0 The problem with that strategy is, that xCloud isn't available in most of the regions where Xbox consoles are sold.

The countries that Microsoft's recent Game Pass price increases have hit the hardest, namely the ones with weaker economies, like Brazil, do not have access to xCloud at all. So trying to sell Game Pass as an app on smart TVs is pointless in those places, without having any hardware to sell alongside it.

Microsoft could make xCloud available in more regions, sure, but they haven't hinted at any plans to do such a thing. Even though xCloud is no longer in beta, they haven't added any more regions to the service.

@Questionable_Duck No but you need to lay the ground work to meet your future goals, countries like Barzil can just pay more then. While countries like USA and Uk can benefit from the App simple as, we don’t need to care about each country equally for no reason. Win win for Microsoft win for us or uk or any citizen when cloud is avaliable, unlucky for Brazil etc until they get with the times.

@Mincey0 No one from Brazil is gonna sub to Game Pass anymore lol, Microsoft killed their audience in that region with the price hikes.

And Xbox was actually decently popular in Brazil, despite the fact that Xbox normally doesn't do that well internationally.

All I'm saying is that the "reducing Game Pass to an app on smart TVs" thing is a stupid idea, that won't actually work in the long run. Most gamers, even in America, won't sub to Game Pass for cloud streaming.

Don't get me wrong, though, I do like xCloud as an option. Just not as the sole or primary thing.

@Questionable_Duck excellent point, well made if accurate.

Point still stands in terms of one month GP to buying the game outright. While less, its still a loss.

This is one of the problem Microsoft seemed to have. They were expecting everyone to rush out and buy an Xbox and subscribe to Gamepass because they made all of these third party acquisitions. These games were never system sellers on their own as they usually sold equally across all the platforms they were on. The reason they sold so many is pretty much everyone had the chance to play them. It may shock some people but if all you console is offering as a selling point is the same games you can play on the others but the others offer a huge library of games that you can't then people will go to the ones with more choices.

@Weebleman ok then explain to me how you’re going to play £100+ games without paying £100+ on day one games that cost over 50each

For £22 you could sub to game pass and play avowed, cod a handful of indies and some other AAA. That would cost considerably more outside of a gamepass subscription z

Gamepass on average save me £50-80 per month, for games I no longer will check out during sales etc.

That's assuming EVERYONE on PC/Xbox that played on Game Pass would have bought the game instead. I'm sure a percentage would have bought but not all. Not only that, I wonder how many more spent on Season Passes or other MTX because they didn't spend $70 to play it.

I do think that if people drop to Premium or Essential, then the number of people playing CoD will be much lower to start. Most may also wait the year for games like Outer Worlds 2, Fable, Clockwork Revolution etc otherwise why bother with Premium? Might as well drop down to Essential if you intend to buy games now.

What will the messaging be when this call of duty does much worse than last years? It will likely fail to reach the sales numbers that 6 did on all platforms, including xbox. Battlefield 6 will be a convenient excuse but I agree with Matt P and think gamepass helped call of duty. I had numerous friends that did not sub to gamepass for call of duty but bought it because a few of us were having fun getting back into COD for the first time in years with gamepass.

I dont expect to hear too many of the "player count" announcements from xbox now that many people said forget it to the outrageous price for day 1 games. It sucks for keeper and the outer worlds 2 but those games are going to get hurt by the lack of gamepass users playing them day 1.

@Questionable_Duck Right and this year is the same, because all the $1 trials I've seen are for Essential and Premium.

I said it a few days ago, the most precious feature is day one access, for users and for Microsoft, because the price on day one per game is €$70 at least (AAA games), more for deluxe editions. Thus, the most valuable perk for users (they save $70 per game) and for Microsoft (they lose $70 per game and user) is access to games at launch.

Of course, this is business, so they only had two options, remove day one access or make it more expensive. Removing day one access would have met much more backlash than a price hike, I tell you.

I don't think that Ubisoft Classics and Fortnite Crew are to blame here, because Microsoft would not potentially lose subscribers and collect cash for Epic and Ubisoft at the same time, so those deals must have cost peanuts.

That said, the other two tiers got better because they have Cloud and PC now for the same price. That is not news anywhere, but it's a great deal. However, I suspect that the cheaper PC tier will disappear.

@Questionable_Duck
Yep I’ve been saying that for about 3 years with Xbox consoles and gamepass.
I used to say sell an Xbox console then maybe sell a gamepass subscription.

But there you go, no rhyme or reason at Microsoft HQ.

@Mincey0 well, youre assuming I want to play those games. I dont. I spend far less grabbing a game in a sale or on physical. For example, I just traded some games im done with to pick up death stranding 2. It cost me £6. The games I swapped cost me less than the month of gamepass you quoted when I bought/traded for them.

Not everyone wants what Gamepass offers.

@Banjo- this is the second time we've agreed with each other 😂. I think we are friends now!

Really good points though man, and really well put across. Agree with everything you said.

MS basically put themselves in a corner where there is no way out that doesn't result in a backlash.

I stated it before and I will state it again - Nothing can justify a 50% price increase for Game Pass. It's absolutely not worth it, I don't care how they try to twist it. Microsoft has become a horrible company who does not know how to manage the Xbox division. No sign of Halo or Gears of War in years, three huge rounds of layoffs in 18 months, a five year old console increasing it's price, a handheld selling at $999 and constantly releasing exclusive games on Game Pass that are broken, and then made perfect for a PS5 release. Pathetic. My PS5 Pro gets all the love now. I will continue to vote with my wallet and not support a broken company that refuses to change.

Is Game Pass still the best place for deals. Yes, Ultimate is now $360, but Xbox encourages you to game share, heck their website tells you how to do it. If you don’t have a family member, you have to have a friend, but that’s $180 each.

PlayStation on the lowest tier is $80 a year and one $70 dollar game is $140.

Game Share on Xbox it’s not hard

@Romans12 don’t subscribe to Xbox, done. You can still buy it separately like PlayStation does or PC

You mean us genuine Xbox fans that said the Activision deal was gonna be bad and were shot down as “haters” were in fact right. Well I never

@Weebleman but loads of us pointed that out years ago and were shot down as haters. Xbox keep painting themselves into a corner and people that don’t like the resulting bad choice between two bad choice decisions are still labelled haters.

They could not paint themselves into a corner for once. It’s not like mircosoft don’t make enough money.

@Weebleman It seems so and I'm happy about it! 😁 While I think that gaming in general is getting more expensive and that affects day one access to games (Ultimate), Call of Duty in particular is a big factor. It's the only exception that won't be on Premium within a year.

@Weebleman Thanks, and yes, that is true. Microsoft is still losing money when ppl sub to Game Pass for $20 (or even $30) a month just to play one brand-new $70 game and cancel immediately afterward.

And by the way, I could be wrong on this, but I think the "removing the $1 trial" thing is something that Microsoft has only recently started to do. If I remember correctly, you could actually sub to Game Pass for $1 in the same month when something like Halo Infinite was released.

haha I typed a whole thing and then read the thread and you guys have all summed it up.

There's just not a huge cross section between people who want to play a lot of different games, and CoD players who are buying skins. But it's arguably worse to go through that whole ABK thing and then tell people they weren't doing day one.

Although realistically, the damage they've done to the brand in the aftermath has been far worse, so maybe they should have just took their lumps and not included CoD. It seems they haven't learned their lesson at all either, because here they are adding Fortnite. Like wtf MS, don't you understand your players at all?

Putting the executive suit on for a minute, I think that the plan is, the people that subscribe one month for Call of Duty will pay more and the people who subscribe to the cheaper tiers will buy the games they want. In any case, they can't pay just a little bit for playing our most precious games on day one after becoming the most important publisher.

@Banjo- yes this is it, but I think the problem is they forgot, or never realized, how many people wanted day one but didn't care about CoD. Those people are left out in the cold.

@AverageJoseph Call of Duty is the star of the show, but I mean this strategy for all the major titles. Same as games get discounts after the launch period, they'll be added to Premium within a year. They probably expect people to buy the games they really want at launch or accept a higher price for day one access.

@Banjo- yeah I guess this move was made for all day one games. It certainly feels like it's because of CoD though.

I wonder if it actually makes a difference too, like, what's to stop Premium customers just going up to Ultimate for a month when the game they want is released? People do this with other streaming services all the time. I don't think it's something within their control.

@AverageJoseph They can't control how people will play the games they want to play on day one, but won't be the incredible deal it was until now. It's not the only factor, but Call of Duty makes the Ultimate tier more expensive and, as the only exception within a year in Premium, it also makes Premium "cheaper", being the same price as before but with Cloud and PC games added.

@Weebleman I think you are assuming that because I’ve mentioned 3 game names they are the only games on gamepass. Suggestion use some common sense a little intellect and realise that you could substitute the games I’ve mentioned for the games you would play!

@Weebleman guarantee you guys are wrong and gamepass will be just as, if not more successful than ever!

@Banjo- is it confirmed for Premium that they all come within a year except CoD? I'm trying to advise my brother on what to do because he pays month to month, and already felt like he wasn't playing enough to justify Ultimate.

Another thing I'm wondering is what happens to 3rd party day one games. Some of them, especially the bigger games, don't stick around for more than a year. Will those be added to Premium? Or does that tier just miss those games entirely?

@Mincey0 theres nothing on gamepass that I want to play or havent already. Not sure how you can tell me i feel different. I get a feeling you are well and truly on the cool aid so let's just beg to differ and see what happens 👍

@Weebleman at no point have I told you you feel different, I’ve told you to use intellect and not make dumb comments.

Either way this is just lol because you’re not even a gamepass user complaining & arguing about gamepass. FYI what this means is you’re not the target audience for gamepass and you move on lol.

@OldGamer999 The problem is, Nadella was shutting down Xbox (2014, not 2021 when he was about to again. or 2025 when is actually doing it). They (Spencer?) convinced him not to by pitching game pass.

Now, game pass has failed by their own metrics. It should have climbed to 100m users, but it stalled at 25 (or 34 if you want to use MS's fudged numbers that include gold).

Are the people who came up with game pass stupid because it failed? Or were they smart because it gave us 10 more years of Xbox? It's a real question, I know it sounds like I'm defending it but either answer is reasonable to me. The whole situation is just sad.

Edit: I'll also add that the last 10 years of gaming between the insanely subsidized Xbox consoles AND insanely subsidized game pass AND game sharing... I'm just glad I was on board this gravy train while it lasted.

@Jenkinss
I always said sell a Xbox series console sell a game pass sub. Series consoles have just over 50% of the GP subs against millions of other devices.
Once they stopped caring about series consoles there was one way the console and game pass was going, down hill.

But they messed up that on release of the series consoles and lack of amazing games at the first two years exclusive wise. Fudged Halo Infinite badly, I really enjoyed the campaign but it was last generation looks wise etc.

Anyway it was all amazing whilst it lasted.

@AverageJoseph Yes, Microsoft guaranteed that all the first-party games will be included in Premium within a year, Call of Duty excluded, so Premium is a pretty good deal. Regarding third-party games, each has a different deal, usually one year on Ultimate, but you won't know when and if they will join Premium. Feel free to switch between tiers depending on the current library of games.

There is a list with all the games that are included in each subscription.

The best option and the best deal, as long as it is not removed, is to let your subscription expire, subscribe to Essential the following day and convert it to Ultimate, getting 40% of the length of Essential.

@BaldB3lper78 yeah that’s a good point, what happened to MS’s promised Nintendo cod? Not heard a word about it since their original mention of it couple of years ago…

@Mincey0 ahhh, i see you have resulted to insults because you cant have a conversation. Go play those 100's of games ypu keep going on about. I think paw patrol is still on there. Seems to be on your level.