Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has just confirmed that the recent Xbox Game Pass price cuts have already had a positive effect on the subscription service. The new Xbox CEO first announced these Xbox Game Pass price cuts in late April, confirming that the cost of the subscription service’s Ultimate tier would be reduced from $29.99 a month to $22.99.
This most recent Xbox Game Pass price cut came just a week after The Verge got its hands on an internal Xbox memo from Asha Sharma. In this April memo, Sharma stated that “Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation,” and said that the company has long-term plans to “evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system, which will take time to test and learn around.”
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Xbox Game Pass’ Price Cuts Have Already Been Beneficial, According to Xbox CEO
In a recent internal memo yet again obtained by The Verge, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma admits that “Growth slowed down and subscriber loss accelerated after the pricing and SKU changes last year.” Sharma is of course referring to the major Xbox Game Pass price hikes of October 2025, which saw Xbox Game Pass Ultimate go from $19.99 a month to $29.99. This dramatic 50% price increase caused a major stir in the Xbox community, with many long-time subscribers loudly voicing their decisions to cancel their ongoing subscriptions. Even one of Xbox’s original founders, Laura Fryer, criticized the Game Pass price hike, calling the decision “greed over gaming” in a video on her personal YouTube channel.
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In the recent May 28 memo, Sharma goes on to state that “Since our price reduction we have seen acquisitions grow and retention improve, which is a good first step.” No exact stats or figures were provided by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma in this internal memo, but this appears to be concrete confirmation that the recent Game Pass price cuts have already started to yield the positive results that the company was hoping to achieve. However, Sharma is quick to point out that Xbox Game Pass has a long road ahead of it, saying “We will not solve this in one moment or one launch. We will have to outwork the problem in front of us in our path to restore durable growth.” There’s no official word yet on what’s next for Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox CEO Comments on “XBOX” Rebranding
In that same recently-obtained memo, Asha Sharma addresses a recent marketing decision that’s confused many Xbox fans. Following a social media poll hosted by the CEO herself, Sharma confirmed on May 16 that Xbox was officially rebranding itself to “XBOX,” with the all-caps stylization designed to be a throwback to the original Xbox’s marketing in 2001.
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In the memo, Sharma had this to say about the recent Xbox rebranding:
“We are building a stronger XBOX. That means making hard choices about what we build, where we invest, and what kind of company we need to be going forward. That is part of what you are starting to see in the shift from Xbox to XBOX. It reflects a decision to be deliberate in how we show up for the players who care most about this brand.”
