Microsoft yoinks $1 Xbox Game Pass trial ahead of new Call of Duty, just like it did before Starfield came out

Interesting timing, Microsoft

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Whatevergripesyou may have withMicrosoft, you have to admit that it offers a pretty solid deal with its Xbox Game Pass service. For only $1, new subscribers can test Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass out for two weeks — well, usually. Recently, Microsoft pulled its $1 offer, and the decision seems to mysteriously coincide with Call of Duty: Black Ops 6’s impending release.

Verysuspicious. Call of Duty site Charlie Intel first noticed the changeon October 15, and some fans are frustrated. Black Ops 6 — a 90s spy shooter with fat guns andround-based zombies— is available to purchase for $70. Xbox’s $1 deal, though, would have theoretically allowed new subscribers (and people with 40 backup emails) to more affordably experience its single-player campaign and multiplayer options.

“Imagine being one of the richest companies on the planet already way overcharging for Game Pass and it still not being enough,” said one CoD fanon Twitter.

“I wish subscriptions didn’t exist,” saidanother. “Paying for online services after already paying for a console and games is insane to me.”

Now, anyone who wants to receive Black Ops 6 day one on Game Pass Ultimate, a unique scenario courtesy of Microsoft’sActivision acquisition, will have to pay $20 a month. Funneling players toward this more expensive, long-term commitment makes strategic sense for Microsoft. Itreportedlyexperienced internal turmoil about whether or not Call of Duty appearing on Game Pass would harm the lucrative franchise’s full-price sales, so removing Xbox’s $1 Game Pass deal undermines some of those fears.

And Microsoft’s decision here also seems to be part of a pattern. The company temporarily removed its $1 offer ahead of Starfield’s splashy release in 2023, too.  But, remember that you don’t need Game Pass to play Black Ops 6. You can buy it on Steam and from the PlayStation store, too, when the game releases on October 25.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 won’t offer early access to its campaign mode, breaking a new trend set by the latest Modern Warfare games.

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Ashley Bardhan is a critic from New York who covers gaming, culture, and other things people like. She previously wrote Inverse’s award-winning Inverse Daily newsletter. Then, as a Kotaku staff writer and Destructoid columnist, she covered horror and women in video games. Her arts writing has appeared in a myriad of other publications, including Pitchfork, Gawker, and Vulture.

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