Update 04/10/2025: Following the publication of this article, a Microsoft spokesperson provided a statement to Wccftech clarifying that these changes are not specific to Call of Duty or to any individual game.
Furthermore, instead of players getting direct discounts like how it previously worked, Game Pass Ultimate and Premium subscribers "will earn 10% and 5% - respectively - in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library." Ultimate tier subscribers will also still get discounts on select games included in the Game Pass library.
So theoretically, you could use the increased number of points you earn on purchases and through the Microsoft Rewards program to spend less overall on DLC and add-ons or whatever else you may buy by redeeming those points for an Xbox Gift Card.
As if Microsoft is trying to say the discount hasn't been removed, it's still there in a different form. But that different form requires multiple steps that players may never take, and if you didn't already use the Microsoft Rewards program, you're probably not aware of its features, like being able to redeem points for Xbox Gift Cards. It all seems to boil down to Microsoft perhaps not removing the potential savings entirely, but obfuscating it and increasing the chances you'd miss it.
Here's the full statement from Microsoft:
"This is not specific to any one game and reflects all games and DLC purchases. Instead of a discount on the purchases, Ultimate and Premium subscribers will earn 10% and 5% - respectively - in points when purchasing select games and add-ons from the Game Pass library. Ultimate members continue to have 20% discount on select games from the Game Pass library. On top of that, all Rewards members will earn points when shopping games and add-ons on the Store, while Premium and Ultimate subscribers will earn even more, 2x and 4x respectively. See more detail on the Game Pass Rewards program here."
Original Story:
Along with Microsoft and Xbox hiking the price of Xbox Game Pass up by 50%, the three tiers of Game Pass also changed, adding new features for each tier. But it also seems like some features were removed, namely the 10% discount that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers would get on add-ons for Call of Duty, including COD Points.
Spotted by CharlieINTEL on X (formerly Twitter), prior to the price change, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription got you discounts on games included in Game Pass, and in the case of Call of Duty, subscribers also a 10% discount on Call of Duty cosmetic add-ons and COD Points. Not anymore though.
It's the latest example of Microsoft sending a clear message that playing games on Xbox and using Xbox services, including Game Pass, are no longer for people trying to save money on their annual gaming spend.
Removing a 10% discount is the kind of squeezing that, after a price hike for Game Pass, which followed a price hike of the Xbox Series consoles in the US (the second console price hike this year), will only work to drive a bigger and bigger wedge between Xbox and its players. It's the kind of thing that leads people who have been with the Xbox platform since the beginning to write features lambasting the greed Microsoft has shown.
Pretty much everything coming out of Xbox lately has told players they will have to pay a premium to play games on Xbox. It's no wonder that after the console price hikes, Microsoft removing the ability for players to redeem Microsoft Points towards Game Pass subs, and of course, the price hike of Game Pass itself, that players swarmed to Microsoft's website to cancel their Game Pass subscriptions.
Actual living essentials are already increasing and encouraging people to spend less on non-essential areas of their lives, like videogames. The decision to leave Xbox and its services behind is made even easier when Microsoft is simultaneously raising prices and removing discounts.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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