Xbox boss flags Game Pass price plan
Xbox CEO Asha Sharma said Game Pass is ‘too expensive’ as currently structured and suggested the service will evolve toward more flexible, better‑value options. (x.com)
Xbox chief Asha Sharma told employees that Game Pass “has become too expensive for players” and said Microsoft will rework the service into a more flexible model. (theverge.com) The memo, first reported by The Verge on April 14, said Sharma wants “a better value equation” in the short term and a system that will “take time to test and learn around” in the long term. IGN and Engadget separately matched the broad outline of the memo after The Verge’s report. (theverge.com) (ign.com) (engadget.com) The comments land six months after Microsoft overhauled the subscription on October 1, 2025, replacing older plans with Essential, Premium, and Ultimate tiers. Xbox Wire said the change added perks such as Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, expanded cloud access, and more than 75 day-one releases a year for Ultimate. (news.xbox.com) That same October reset also pushed the United States price of Game Pass Ultimate from $19.99 to $29.99 a month, a 50 percent jump. CNBC reported the increase took effect immediately for new subscribers, while Xbox’s compare page now shows the current plan lineup and features. (cnbc.com) (xbox.com) Game Pass matters to Xbox because Microsoft has spent years pitching it as the center of its gaming business, with first-party releases, cloud streaming, and PC access bundled into one subscription. Xbox Wire said subscriber and creator engagement were at “an all-time high” when it announced the 2025 changes. (news.xbox.com) Sharma’s memo points to a tension inside that strategy: Microsoft added more benefits to justify a higher price, and its new chief is now saying the package costs too much for players. The Verge reported no immediate replacement pricing, only a plan to keep testing options. (theverge.com) (news.xbox.com) Microsoft has not publicly announced a price cut or a new tier since the memo surfaced. For now, the official Xbox storefront still presents Game Pass as a multi-tier service built around different ways to play, even as the person running Xbox says the current version is not the final one. (xbox.com) (theverge.com)
