(Image credit: Activision)

There's no doubt about it, a 35% price increase came as a major shock to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers – especially those who don't think a few classic Ubisoft games or Fortnite goodies were worth the extra spend. But in all fairness to Microsoft, the service is going through a bit of a purple patch when it comes to day one releases.

Newly-released games are exclusive to Ultimate, and that might make it trickier to justify spending so much monthly when schedules dry up a bit in the leaner months next year. However, with the likes of The Outer Worlds 2, Ninja Gaiden 4, and The Keeper arriving on the platform for Xbox Series X/S and PC recently, the increased outlay looks a little more acceptable.

Well, now add Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 to the mix and surely it's worth a punt, even if you cancel your subscription again in the new year.

Coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on 14 November, the latest entry in the series will undoubtedly be one of the biggest releases of 2025, if not the biggest. The sales figures of COD each year are obscene (as is its usual cover price), so getting to play it at no extra cost is highly attractive for any FPS fan.

Offering a blockbuster co-op campaign, big zombies mode, and more multiplayer than you can shake an MP40 at, there's more than enough content in there to keep you going up through the holiday season and beyond. And it's not the only day one release coming to Game Pass this month.

Dead Static Drive has arrived on the service today (5 November). Described as a kind-of Grand Theft Cthulhu, it's an isometric survival-horror with cars, guns and 80s haircuts.

Egging On, Whiskerwood, Pigeon Simulator, and Winter Burrow are additional all-new games releasing on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass soon (6, 11 and 12 November, respectively).

While Sniper Elite: Resistance, Voidtrain, Great God Grove, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris, and Relic Hunters Legend, will be added to Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Premium over the coming week.

How much is Xbox Game Pass?

Xbox recently (and controversially) tweaked its Game Pass subscription service to include four tiers, with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in particular seeing a major price rise.

The flagship tier gives you access to more than 400 games, which is updated regularly and includes day one releases, like many of the above. It also includes membership to EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics and will soon add Fortnite Crew to the plan (with monthly freebies for Fortnite players).

On top of this, you get PC Game Pass membership as part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, so more than 300 games playable on a gaming PC or handheld, and Xbox Cloud Gaming is also included – for the usual library and to stream your own purchased games.

For all that, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate costs £22.99 / $29.99 / €26.99 / AU$35.95 per month.

If that's too rich for your blood, Xbox Game Pass Premium is priced at £10.99 / $14.99 / €12.99 / AU$17.95 per month, but cuts the game library down to 200+ selected titles. You also don't get day one releases, although new games will appear within a year of launch, and there's no partner services available (ie. EA Play or Ubisoft+ Classics).

Cloud gaming is also slightly hampered by lower quality streams (maximum of 1080p) and slightly longer wait times for them to start.

Finally for console owners, Xbox Game Pass Essential is just £6.99 / $9.99 / €8.99 / AU$12.95 per month and offers more than 50 games to play at no extra cost, but no day one releases and a much more limited number of games to stream using Xbox Cloud Gaming.

Like the other plans above, it also gives you access to online mulitplayer, and so is the bare minimum you will need to pay if you want to play games online.

The final tier is PC Game Pass, which is limited to PC and handheld owners – such as the Xbox Ally and Ally X. Priced at £13.49 / $16.49 / €14.99 / AU$19.95 per month, it includes access to over 300 PC games, day one releases, and EA Play.

All of the tiers also include exclusive discounts on the Xbox Store and several other in-game perks.