MICROSOFT has announced a surprise price drop for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service – but the changes aren’t all good news for gamers.

A hugely popular game franchise will no longer be available on the platform at launch going forward.

Illustration of the Xbox logo on a TV screen with a person holding a gamepad in the foreground.Changes to Game Pass prices start today Credit: Getty Screenshot from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 showing soldiers in a firefight, with one behind a ballistic shield.Future Call of Duty games will not get a day 1 release on Xbox Game Pass

The pricing shake-up comes after the tech giant increased the fee for its top level Game Pass Ultimate last October by almost 50 per cent.

But from today, the cost is dropping from £22.99 a month down to £16.99.

Meanwhile, the PC Game Pass will also shift from £13.49 to £10.99.

Although this sounds like a huge win for Xbox owners it does come with a sacrifice.

Future titles of Call of Duty will no longer be part of it at launch.

is one of the world’s most popular gaming series and was used as a major hook for subscribing to Xbox Game Pass.

Instead, new Call of Duty games will be added to the Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass tiers about a year later.

Existing Call of Duty titles already in the library will continue to be available, said.

“Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far,” the firm said.

“We’ll continue to listen and learn.”

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Despite the lack of new Call of Duty games many players have reacted positively to the overhaul.

“Good call for me, don’t care about Call of Duty,” one player wrote on .

“If that remains the only difference, massively good decision from Xbox.”

Another commented: “Wow they actually did it, fair play to them.”

A third said: “I do not care about CoD at all so this is awesome news.”