Report: Modern Warfare 3 coming to Game Pass shortly after subscription price hike

Microsoft plans to release Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 on Xbox Game Pass in a matter of days, sources have told multiple trusted media.

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The first Call of Duty is coming to Xbox Game Pass this week--Modern Warfare 3 is set to launch on Game Pass on July 24, sources have told Insider Gaming, Windows Central's Jez Corden, notable leaker eXtas1s, and the Xbox Era podcast.

The timing here is curious, especially within the context of 2023's FTC v. Microsoft federal trial. If Modern Warfare 3 does indeed drop on Game Pass this week, it will arrive shortly after a price hike for the Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Microsoft recently announced it would be raising the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $16.99 per month to $19.99 per month, a +17% increase ($3).

This cost increase caught the attention of the Federal Trade Commission, who is still attempting to challenge the $70 billion Microsoft-Activision merger in its administrative court.

In a letter published to the Ninth Circuit Appeals Court, the FTC said that these price increases were a clear example of a firm expressing market power in a post-acquisition setting.

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Filing source: Link

Interestingly enough, in court documents leading up to July 2023's evidentiary hearing in the FTC v Microsoft trial, Microsoft legal counsel said that the company would not impose a "price increase based on the acquisition."

That was technically true for the first price hike; Microsoft raised the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the subscription which includes day one access to all first-party Microsoft-published games, from $14.99 to $16.99 before they closed the $70 billion acquisition deal of Activision.

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But these recent price hikes come shortly before the release of two major Call of Duty games onto Xbox Game Pass: The aforementioned Modern Warfare 3, which is set to release on XGP on July 24 little over a week after the +17% price increase; and Call of Duty Black Ops 6, which is set to launch day one onto the service's Ultimate tier.

Another point: Microsoft has also completely removed its $10.99/month Xbox Game Pass Console tier which included day-one access to its first-party games for console users.

That subscription is no longer available to new users, and Microsoft is prepared to launch a new Game Pass Standard subscription to replace it. This new Standard subscription, the FTC says, is a "degraded product" because it no longer includes day-one access to new first-party games.

It will be interesting to see how, if at all, Modern Warfare 3's inclusion on the service in conjunction with the price hike timing affects the FTC's arguments and internal administrative proceedings.