New Xbox CEO Comments on Game Pass

The caller Xbox CEO, Asha Sharma, has reportedly shared a memo with Microsoft employees that stated "Game Pass has go excessively costly for players."

The Verge reported connected Sharma’s displacement successful strategy, sharing details from an interior connection sent to employees that it received today. As Game Pass has accrued prices for players successful caller years, it appears Sharma is looking into the gaming subscription work successful hopes of creating "a much flexible system."

"Game Pass is cardinal to gaming worth connected Xbox. It’s besides wide that the existent exemplary isn’t the last one," the memo said. "Short term, Game Pass has go excessively costly for players, truthful we request a amended worth equation. Long term, we volition germinate Game Pass into a much flexible strategy which volition instrumentality clip to trial and larn around."

Xbox Game Pass presently has 4 plans: Essential, Premium, PC Game Pass, and Ultimate. The benefits and terms of each vary, with the superior offering being that subscribers summation entree to an ever-evolving room of games to download and play. You tin work our afloat breakdown of the work here. Sharma promised to "go deeper" with the Xbox squad astir the points shared successful her memo adjacent week, but her comments astatine slightest suggested that adjustments are successful the works. Information included successful the memo follows a abstracted study from precocious past period that the caller CEO was hoping to marque Game Pass much affordable.

Meanwhile, The Verge study added that immoderate of the service’s caller terms increases are related to Call of Duty’s beingness connected the service, though it’s unclear if determination are immoderate plans to alteration that. While players whitethorn beryllium acceptable to respire a suspiration of alleviation if Sharma’s alleged plans travel to fruition, determination are nary details astir what signifier the imaginable Game Pass revisions whitethorn take.

Shortly aft the quality that Call of Duty would beryllium joining Game Pass successful 2024, Microsoft announced it would rise prices for each of its subscription tiers. More important terms hikes followed astir 1 twelvemonth later, erstwhile the institution revealed it would beryllium expanding the outgo of its Ultimate tier from $19.99 to a whopping $29.99 a month. While bumped prices for subscription services are thing new, galore felt the changes made successful 2025 were peculiarly aggressive, with immoderate moving to aerial their frustrations online portion others outright canceled their payments altogether.

Microsoft confirmed successful October that it would beryllium giving subscribers further reward points aft scrapping a strategy that would person included discounts connected immoderate DLC purchases. The service’s astir caller additions were revealed past week and see DayZ, FBC: Firebreak, Hades 2, and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare.

Michael Cripe is simply a freelance writer with IGN. He's champion known for his enactment astatine sites similar The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be definite to springiness him a travel connected Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).