Microsoft's all-you-can-eat gaming subscription service Xbox Game Pass has become one of the largest programs in all of gaming since its introduction in 2017, and is used by millions of users around the world. In recent years, though, the firm has gradually and controversially risen its price over time, making it less attractive to many users than it once was.
Now, though, it sounds like Microsoft and Xbox are gearing up to reduce the cost of Game Pass — or, at the very least, introduce some more affordable ways to get access to the program's benefits. Reportedly, the gaming brand's new CEO Asha Sharma has stated Game Pass is "too expensive" in a new internal memo, and noted the "current model isn’t the final one."
"Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one," she wrote in a letter seen by The Verge. "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."
This news comes just over half a year after Microsoft infamously hiked the price of Xbox Game Pass up significantly last year, with the PC-exclusive tier PC Game Pass rising about 37% ($11.99/month to $16.49/month) and the premium Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier skyrocketing 50% ($19.99/month to $29.99/month). Though these increases came with several upgrades to Game Pass as a whole, they still proved to be extremely contentious with players.
Notably, it also comes just a few weeks after a separate report alleged Sharma was considering adding "lower-priced tiers" to Xbox Game Pass, with the stated goal being "to make future consoles and products like Game Pass more enticing to a broader range of customers." Her plan for Game Pass may be to implement these more affordable tiers, rather than to reduce the cost of existing ones.
It's widely believed that a major contributing factor to the rising cost of Game Pass has been the decision to bring new Call of Duty titles to the program after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard in 2023, as its availability on the service has reportedly harmed the franchise's sales quite noticeably.
It's worth highlighting that Windows Central executive editor and Xbox expert Jez Corden suggested we could see Call of Duty leave Game Pass in the near future while speaking on the XB2 podcast this past weekend. "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," he commented.
If that were to happen, we'd likely see some sizable price adjustments come to Game Pass along with that decision, which would naturally be part of Sharma's short-term plan for the program. Whether or not it will happen, though, is unclear right now.
In the new memo, Sharma did mention that she'll "go deeper" with the Xbox team about what's next for Xbox Game Pass in a week's time, however, so perhaps it won't be long before Microsoft makes an announcement or more detailed plans leak to the public. For the time being, we know changes are coming, and hopefully they'll get Game Pass into a state that players are happy with.
Windows Central's take
I, along with most longtime Game Pass subscribers, was very frustrated by the big price hike to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in October, to the point where I even wrote an editorial arguing that it instantly made PC Game Pass the new best tier, provided you've got a solid gaming PC to play on.
Thus, I'm very glad to see that Microsoft and Xbox are aiming to find ways to make Game Pass more affordable and accessible — though I can't help but feel taking Call of Duty off of the service as part of that initiative would diminish the value of the company's massive $69 billion merger with Activision Blizzard. Even so, however, it's good to know that steps in the right direction are coming.
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