PC Game Pass remains the simplest way to keep trying new games on Windows without paying full price for each one. The catalog sits north of 400 titles, day-one releases land on launch day, and there is no per-game price tag stopping you from clicking install. After a round of price changes, Microsoft trimmed the cost again in 2026, which makes the value question worth a fresh look.
Quick answer: PC Game Pass is $14 per month for 400-plus PC games, with day-one releases and EA Play included but no cloud or console play. Prices for PC Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate were lowered in select regions, with the new amount showing on your next recurrence date starting April 22, 2026. New Call of Duty titles now join roughly a year after launch instead of day one.
What PC Game Pass includes
PC Game Pass is the Windows-only plan. It covers more than 400 games you can install and play on a gaming PC, plus day-one access to new first-party and select third-party releases. EA Play is bundled in, so titles in that library show up at no extra charge. The trade-off is device support. There is no console play and no Xbox Cloud Gaming on this tier, so everything runs locally on your machine.
That local-only nature is the main limit. New AAA games run only as well as your hardware allows, so a weaker laptop will struggle with the heaviest releases. If you want streaming or console support alongside PC, Game Pass Ultimate is the tier that adds those.
Game Pass tiers and pricing compared
There are four plans. The higher the price, the larger the library and the more extras you get. PC Game Pass is unusual because it is cheaper than Premium yet offers more games and day-one releases, but it is locked to PC.
| Plan | Price | Library | Day 1 releases | Devices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essential | $10/mo | 50-plus | No | Console, PC, cloud |
| PC Game Pass | $14/mo | 400-plus | Yes | PC only |
| Premium | $15/mo | 200-plus | No | Console, PC, cloud |
| Ultimate | $23/mo | 500-plus | Yes | Console, PC, cloud |
EA Play is part of PC Game Pass and Ultimate. Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew are limited to Ultimate. Microsoft adds new games to each plan monthly, except for the Essential tier.
April 2026 changes: lower price and the Call of Duty shift
Microsoft reduced the price of Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass in select regions. Existing subscribers see the new amount on their next billing date, with the rollout starting April 22, 2026. The reduction followed an earlier round of increases, and under CEO Asha Sharma the company pulled the cost back rather than holding the higher rate.
The catch is Call of Duty. Future Call of Duty titles no longer join Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass at launch. They arrive about a year later instead. So this year’s entry is not part of the day-one lineup, and that was the trade made to land the lower price. Details on the change are posted on Microsoft’s updates to Xbox Game Pass notice.
Note: pricing and regional availability vary, so the exact amount you pay depends on where your account is registered.
Why PC Game Pass works as a discovery library
The strongest reason to keep PC Game Pass is not the big-budget exclusives. It is the freedom to try something you would otherwise skip. When there is no separate price tag, the decision changes from “is this worth buying?” to “why not install it?” That removes the hesitation that normally keeps a game sitting on a wishlist for months.
In practice that means picking up titles like Blue Prince, Tunic, Sea of Stars, or Monster Train without a second thought, and discovering some of them become favorites. Co-op games benefit the same way. A group is far more likely to all agree on something when it is one click away rather than a shared purchase, and plenty of those sessions end with everyone buying DLC afterward.
The catalog also rewards patience. A game that makes a weak first impression can turn into a standout once you keep going, since there is no refund window pressuring you to quit early. MIO: Memories in Orbit is a good example, a Metroidvania that opens up into tight boss fights and inventive traversal the further you push into it.
First-party games still fit into this. Obsidian’s Outer Worlds and Grounded, Gears Tactics, and Forza Horizon 6 all sit in the catalog, and Ninja Gaiden 4 is published under Xbox Game Studios. The point is that you can play them without sizing up each one against a full retail price first.
The library also reaches back. Recent additions include the mainline Final Fantasy games through FF6, which makes revisiting the classics easy without paying again for older titles. The only real limit on how much you stack up is your hard drive.
How to check your price and manage the subscription
For PC players, the math still holds up. A single new AAA game now runs about $70, so a few of those in a year cost more than a year of the subscription. With the price pulled back down and the catalog as deep as ever, the value of PC Game Pass comes from the games you would never have bought outright but end up loving anyway. Keep that pipeline of fresh and old releases flowing, and the case for staying subscribed stays easy to make.