Xbox boss says ‘Game Pass’ has become too expensive for gamers
She believes that the value for money of the service needs to be improved.
The Verge has obtained an internal letter from Xbox’s head of Microsoft’s gaming division, in which Asha Sharma notes that “Game Pass” is very important to the company, but it needs to change.
“In the short term, “Game Pass” has become too expensive for players, and we need to find a better balance between price and quality. In the long term, we will make the Game Pass system more flexible, which will take time to test and explore,” said Asha Sharma, head of Xbox.
Asha Sharma didn’t describe any specific steps for changing the subscription service. However, rumors of possible changes have been circulating online for a long time. R
ecently, a data leaker who goes by the username @redphx found references to two unannounced Game Pass subscription tiers in Microsoft’s website code – one that supposedly unlocks games from Xbox’s own in-house studios, and the second, according to @redphx, could be a collaboration between the subscription service and Netflix.
In an internal memo sent to gaming employees, first reported by The Verge, Sharma said the service needs a “better value equation,” six months after Microsoft raised the price of its top-tier Game Pass by 50% to $30 per month.
Currently, Xbox Game Pass is available in Ultimate $29.99 per month, Premium $14.99 per month, Essential $9.99 per month, and PC Game Pass $16.49 tiers.
Bloomberg reports that last year’s Game Pass price hike came after Xbox gave up “more than $300 million in sales” from Call of Duty on consoles and PCs, according to a former employee.
On April 10, Windows Central columnist and author Jez Corden reported that, based on information he has, there may not be a new Call of Duty game added to Game Pass this year.
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