Xbox Reportedly Considering New First-Party Game Pass Tier - IGN Daily Fix

Happy Friday, everybody. Max here with your fix of gaming and gaming related news. Coming up, rumors of a new membership tier for Xbox Game Pass, plus some updates on movies based on a couple Game Pass games, Call of Duty and Gears of War. Let's get into it. Since day one, there's been a lot of talk about the price of Xbox Game Pass. Initially, the concern was that it was too cheap to be sustainable for game development, and it still might be. But after some price hikes, the conversation has shifted to whether it was too expensive for the average consumer. Well, Microsoft is well aware of these concerns, and it sounds like a new membership tier might be rolling out in an effort to find a happy medium. Earlier this week, The Verge's Tom Warren reported that Xbox's new CEO, Asha Chararma, had stated in an internal memo to Microsoft employees that Game Pass has become too expensive for players. Now, Warren reports that plans are underway for a new Game Pass tier that would be limited to first-party games published by Xbox Game Studios. That's definitely nothing to scoff at since Xbox's current stable of in-house properties includes Call of Duty, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Halo, Forza, and Gears of War, just to name a few. And over the course of the next 8 months, we are expecting Fortza Horizon 6, Halo Combat Evolved, Gears of War Eday, Fable, and the next Call of Duty, rumored to be Modern Warfare 4. Supposedly, Chararma's long-term plan for Game Pass is to evolve it into quote, "a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around." What do you all make of this? Does a first-p party Xbox game studios membership tier sound appealing, or would you be more interested in one that's like a mixed bag of third-party offerings, or maybe just one that's full of smaller indie titles? Sound off in the comments. Personally, I don't know. I'm skeptical. I guess it depends how much it costs. How much should it cost? Activision Blizzard first announced plans for a Call of Duty cinematic universe way back in 2015 with ambitious plans across film and TV. Obviously, that hasn't come to fruition yet, but it's still a possibility assuming the recently reannounced Call of Duty feature film does well enough. It was revealed during Paramount Cineacon presentation this week that the Call of Duty movie, which doesn't have an official title yet, will be hitting theaters on June 30th, 2028. As previously announced, Peter Berg is attached to direct, best known for his work on Hancock, Battleship, and four Mark Wahlberg movies that were based on true stories that did not actually involve Mark Wahlberg in real life. Berg is co-writing with Taylor Sheridan, currently best known for his work on Yellowstone, but also he wrote Sakario, which rips. You should watch Sakario this weekend. That's a good movie. Anyway, it feels a little weird to be talking about a Call of Duty movie that is two years away since two Call of Duty games will likely come out between now and then, and a third one will probably have been announced, but who knows, maybe we'll start getting COD movies every year now, too. Speaking of feature films based on 20-year-old game franchises about dudes shooting each other, there's also Gears of War. David Leech of John Wick, Deadpool 2, and Atomic Blonde fame is currently attached to direct. And in a recent interview with Collider, he gave this tidbit of an update, saying, quote, "Gears of War, I think, is going to happen. We have a great draft that's in progress that's in really great shape. The studio is more determined than ever to make it." He added that Netflix is 100% behind it, and that Gears game studio, The Coalition, is fired up as well. So, that's not exactly a hard release date, but it's something. In the meantime, we do know when we'll hear more about the next game, Gears of War Eday. It's going to be headlining the Xbox Game Showcase, which is taking place on June 7th. So, mark your calendars for that one. Hey, you know what else is happening on June 7th and June 6th? IGN Live 2026. Tickets are officially on sale for this two-day celebration of gaming and entertainment in downtown LA. It'll be filled with celebrity panels, exclusive game reveals, live stage shows, giveaways, and much, much more. Early bird tickets are on sale now on show clicks, and fans can purchase one day tickets for 15 bucks or a weekend pass for 30. So, go check it out. I hope I see you there. That is your fix for April 17th, 2026. I'm Max Scoville and for all of your gaming news, you're already in the right place. IGN. Have a great weekend, everybody. Go play some video games or watch Sakario, whichever. That they're both fun.