It seems that including access to Call of Duty on Xbox Game Pass cost Microsoft as much as $300 million in sales. This leaked information comes following Microsoft announcing that the price of Xbox Game Pass would be increased.

Xbox Game Pass has hit a rough patch recently, announcing a price hike that was apparently so unpopular that subscribers crashed the website in an effort to unsubscribe. While the price increase comes alongside new games arriving on the service, as well as other benefits, seeing the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate jump $10 per month seems to have pushed some players too far. However, Game Pass may have other issues to be concerned about at the same time.

Microsoft Allegedly Lost $300 Million Through Xbox Game Pass

Now, according to Bloomberg, an insider source has revealed that it’s estimated that Xbox gave up more than $300 million in sales on Call of Duty on PC and consoles due to including the game on Xbox Game Pass. The information comes by way of a former employee who remained anonymous. It seems that a lot of gamers found the deal to be a good one, playing Call of Duty via their Game Pass subscription rather than purchasing the game separately. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is notably the first game in the franchise to be placed on Xbox Game Pass on day one of its release. Despite the alleged downside, Black Ops 6 nonetheless performed extremely well on PlayStation and PC, likely helping to make up the difference.

While these numbers haven’t been confirmed by official channels, if accurate, it may play a role in the recently-announced price increase for Xbox Game Pass. Prices will rise for all active subscribers by their next billing period, which means that all subscribers will be migrated to the new price by the start of November, which is just weeks before the release of the franchise’s next entry, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. In the event that many subscribers use Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to play Black Ops 7 instead of purchasing it, as with Black Ops 6, the cost increase may help to offset any potential losses.

It’s worth noting that with this latest price increase for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the service has gone from 492 games available in July 2024 to a whopping 838 by October 2025. The Game Pass Ultimate tier also added Fortnite Crew, boosting the value of the service further. However, it remains to be seen if the average subscriber feels these benefits outweigh the increase in cost.