Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has reportedly commented on last year’s price increases to staff, hinting at subscription changes coming soon to its gaming service. It’s been barely two months since taking the reins from Sarah Bond and from scrapping the “This is an Xbox” marketing slogan, to now supposedly telling staff that Game Pass is no longer an affordable option for players. It’s becoming apparent that Sharma has big changes in store for Game Pass. Below is a statement from The Verge that claims to have been sent out to staff, stating that Microsoft is also exploring ways to offer more flexible options for players as well.
“Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one, 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.”
Last year, Game Pass saw a 50% price hike to $29.99, prompting many in the community to say they’d cancel their memberships, and not long after, other changes were made whereby features from the Ultimate tier were added at the standard level. Meanwhile, oddly enough, a couple of weeks prior to Sharma being appointed as Xbox’s new CEO, a rumor stated that Microsoft was “exploring” options to combine PC and Xbox tiers into a single offering. This had some plausibility given the recent changes being made to the Xbox OS used for gaming handhelds and PC. Given all these rumors, it does seem that Game Pass is in for changes before the year is out, and while rumors and supposed internal emails are still a bit vague, it seems all but guaranteed that new leadership is looking to find ways to support the community and make Game Pass more profitable. Meanwhile, other rumors regarding a new console point to a release around 2028, so there’s plenty of time to enact new changes before its release.