Xbox Game Pass ‘has become too expensive,’ says Microsoft’s gaming chief

Microsoft’s new Xbox chief, Asha Sharma, has signaled that Xbox Game Pass pricing is about to alter. In an inside memo to Xbox staff, obtained by The Verge, Sharma admits that “Game Pass has become too expensive for players” and that Microsoft wants “a better value equation.”

“Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one,” says Sharma. “Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around.”

Microsoft hiked the worth of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $29.99 monthly final yr, an enormous 50 % hike. The firm tried to justify the worth hike with a wide range of upgrades throughout all of its Xbox Game Pass tiers, however the fee improve has clearly taken its toll on Game Pass.

I perceive that a part of the fee improve for Game Pass was all the way down to Microsoft’s determination so as to add Call of Duty into the subscription service. I reported practically two years in the past that Microsoft had been debating whether or not to place new releases of Call of Duty into Game Pass, with issues from some on the firm on the time that the income generated from typical Call of Duty gross sales could be undermined by Game Pass. Microsoft went on so as to add Call of Duty to Game Pass in the summertime of 2024.

Over the weekend, Windows Central’s Jez Corden hinted that Microsoft is perhaps about to take Call of Duty out of Game Pass. “If they take Call of Duty out of Game Pass this year, which is a possibility from what I’ve heard, I think it will kind of reveal some of the cracks in the strategy, possibly,” stated Corden on the XB2+1 podcast.

Sharma references the “online chatter” about rumors of Microsoft altering Game Pass pricing, and says she’ll “go deeper” with Xbox staff subsequent week. I wouldn’t count on any quick worth adjustments within the coming days, however it actually appears that Sharma is conscious of the Game Pass pricing points and is on the point of deal with them within the coming weeks.