Modern Warfare 4 Is $69.99 and Not on Game Pass. Here's How to Play for Less

$69.99. That's what it costs to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 when it launches on October 23, 2026, even if you already pay for Game Pass Ultimate.

For years, Ultimate was the "never buy Call of Duty again" subscription. Not anymore. In April 2026, Microsoft announced on Xbox Wire that future Call of Duty titles "won't join Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch". They'll arrive during the following holiday season, about a year later.

So if Call of Duty was the main reason you kept Ultimate running, this is the week to ask a simple question: what are you actually paying for? Below, you'll work out whether to buy, subscribe or both, which tier you really need, and how to stop paying full price every month.

The 60-second version:

• Count how many new games you really buy each year. Most people buy two or fewer.
• If Modern Warfare 4 is your one big game this year, buying it can beat a year of Ultimate.
• On Xbox console, online multiplayer needs Essential, not Ultimate. On PC, it needs no subscription at all.
• Not a launch-day player? Wait a year and it should land on Ultimate and PC Game Pass anyway.
• Paying monthly is usually the priciest way to subscribe. Check the plan length.

Here's how to do each one.

What changed (and what didn't)

On April 21, 2026, Microsoft cut the price of its top tiers while taking Call of Duty out of them at launch. According to Xbox Wire, Game Pass Ultimate dropped from $29.99 to $22.99 a month in the US, and PC Game Pass from $16.49 to $13.99.

The cheaper tiers stayed put. Pure Xbox's breakdown of the new prices lists Essential at $9.99 and Premium at $14.99 a month in the US. In Australia, Ultimate fell from A$35.95 to A$25.95.

The good news: existing Call of Duty games already in the library stay there. Xbox Wire says Ultimate still includes "hundreds of games" on console and PC, plus cloud gaming and other day-one releases. What it no longer includes is the newest Call of Duty on day one.

Do this today: open your Microsoft account, check which tier you're on and when it renews.

The two-games test

Here's a number worth knowing before you renew anything. In Circana's Q3 2025 Future of Video Games survey, 63% of US respondents said they buy two or fewer games a year.

Now do the maths with US prices:

• Two new games at $69.99: $139.98
• Twelve months of Ultimate at $22.99: $275.88

If your year looks like Modern Warfare 4 plus one other big release, buying them outright costs about half as much as a year of Ultimate. And now that Modern Warfare 4 isn't included anyway, Ultimate subscribers who want it at launch pay for both.

That doesn't make Ultimate bad value. If you play five, ten or twenty games from the library a year, it can still work out far cheaper than buying them. The point is to know which kind of player you are.

Do this today: write down every game you played for more than a few hours in the last 12 months. That list tells you more than any comparison chart.

You might be paying for a tier you don't need

This is the one most Call of Duty players miss. If you only want to play Modern Warfare 4 online, Ultimate isn't the requirement.

• On Xbox console, the Xbox store listing says online multiplayer needs Game Pass Essential, sold separately. That's $9.99 a month in the US.
• On PC, online play needs no Game Pass subscription at all.
• The campaign needs no online subscription on either.

On console, the gap between Essential ($9.99) and Ultimate ($22.99) is $13 a month, or $156 a year. If you mostly play one or two games you've bought, that's money for nothing.

Want a middle ground? Windows Central's Game Pass guide lists Premium at 200+ games, with Xbox-published games arriving within 12 months of launch. Essential has 50+ games.

Do this today: if you play on PC and only play games you own, check whether you need a subscription at all this month.

The patient player's discount

Not everyone needs to play on launch day. Microsoft says new Call of Duty games will join Ultimate and PC Game Pass "during the following holiday season (about a year later)".

If you mostly play the campaign, or you're happy to skip the launch rush, waiting a year turns Modern Warfare 4 from a $69.99 purchase into one more game in a subscription you might already have. In the meantime, the earlier Call of Duty games already in the library stay available. Tech Times reports that Black Ops 7 was the last one to join on day one.

Do this today: be honest with yourself. If you won't play much before Christmas, there's no prize for buying it in October.

Monthly is the most expensive way to pay

PlayStation players got their own lesson in this in 2026. On May 20, Sony raised US PS Plus prices for new subscribers on its monthly and three-month plans, ComicBook reported:

• Essential: $9.99 → $10.99 a month
• Extra: $14.99 → $16.99 a month
• Premium: $17.99 → $19.99 a month

The 12-month prices didn't change. Essential is still $79.99 a year. Paying $10.99 monthly for a full year would cost $131.88, which is $51.89 more for exactly the same thing. ComicBook also reports that existing members keep their old rate unless they cancel, so think twice before letting a cheaper plan lapse.

The same idea works on any platform:

• Keep year-round subscriptions on longer plans. If you play every week, a 12-month plan usually costs less per month.
• Rotate the rest. Subscribe in the months you'll actually play, like launch season or the holidays, then stop.
• Set a renewal reminder a few days before each plan rolls over.

Do this today: check whether any of your gaming subscriptions are on monthly billing when you'd play all year.

Spend on the games, not the gaps

Modern Warfare 4 leaving Game Pass at launch doesn't have to cost you more. Buy the one game you really want, keep the cheapest tier that does the job, wait for the rest if you can, and stop paying monthly for something you use all year. Play what you love, and only pay for what you play.

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