Microsoft Gaming’s new CEO, Asha Sharma, has said Xbox Game Pass is “too expensive” for players, but what is she going to do about that? According to The Verge, Microsoft is kicking around a few ideas for how to shake up the Xbox Game Pass service, including by introducing a new tier that only includes first-party Xbox games made by studios that Microsoft owns.
The Verge also published another line from Sharma’s memo to staff recently. It said Game Pass is “central to gaming value on Xbox,” but also that it’s become clear that “the current model isn’t the final one.” The memo added, “Player behavior, content economics, and markets vary too much for a single approach to work everywhere.” The other parts of the memo, which were published previously, included a mention from Sharma that she wanted to evolve Game Pass to become a “more flexible system.”
Beyond a new Game Pass tier for first-party games, The Verge said Microsoft is also considering more bundling of third-party services. Currently, Game Pass Ultimate also includes subscriptions to Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, and EA Play. There’s no word on what other third-party services could be added to Game Pass, but Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters said in March that he and Sharma had “kicked around ideas” in regards to bundling.
No more Call of Duty releases at launch?
Also in the report, it was claimed that Microsoft is mulling over the idea that it would stop adding future new Call of Duty releases to Game Pass at launch. The decision to put Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 in Game Pass at launch in 2024 reportedly led to $300 million in lost sales for Microsoft. However, the inclusion of the game in the service no doubt led to new Game Pass sign-ups or lapsed subscribers deciding to come back, so the dollar amount doesn’t tell the whole story.
In related news, researcher and educator Joost van Dreunen recently responded to Sharma’s memo with his own thoughts on how Microsoft could make Game Pass more appealing. He said Microsoft could offer a lower-price tier in the area of $6/month, but also stressed that Microsoft can’t grow Game Pass to big new heights based on pricing alone. To really grow and appeal to the 3 billion gamers around the world, van Dreunen said Microsoft should drop its pride and lean into advertising to help subsidize costs, just like many other areas of entertainment have.
As it happens, Microsoft is reportedly considering a new Xbox Cloud Gaming tier that lets people play games for free in exchange for watching ads.
No changes to Game Pass are expected to happen imminently, as The Verge’s report said Sharma is taking time to listen to key stakeholders and gather feedback for the time being. GameSpot has contacted Microsoft in an attempt to get more details on any changes coming to Game Pass.
