Microsoft's new Xbox business chief Asha Sharma said in an internal memo that the current Xbox Game Pass subscription price is "already too expensive for players" and the company needs to re-create a more attractive value system. This memo was obtained by the media and exposed, showing that Microsoft is internally brewing a new round of adjustments to Game Pass pricing and structure.
Sharma emphasized in the memo that Game Pass is still the "core of game value" on the Xbox platform, but the current model "is not the final form." She bluntly stated that in the short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so Microsoft "needs a better value equation"; in the long term, Game Pass will be "evolved into a more flexible system," and this process will take time to test and iterate.
According to previous reports, Microsoft raised the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription price to $29.99 per month last year, an increase of up to 50%. This substantial price increase caused widespread controversy among players at the time. Microsoft tried to justify the price increase by adding different upgrades to each level of Game Pass, but the substantial cost increase obviously put pressure on the growth and reputation of this subscription service.
Industry insiders revealed that one of the important reasons for this cost increase is Microsoft's decision to add the "Call of Duty" series to the Game Pass subscription lineup. As early as nearly two years ago, reports pointed out that there had been intense discussions within Microsoft around "whether to include the newly released "Call of Duty" directly into Game Pass. Some senior executives were worried that this would weaken the considerable revenue brought by traditional buyout sales. Despite the disagreements, Microsoft eventually officially added Call of Duty to the Game Pass library in the summer of 2024, making it one of the subscription service's flagship content.
Recently, industry reporters have suggested that Microsoft may consider removing "Call of Duty" from Game Pass to rebalance the cost and revenue structure. Judging from the internal signals currently exposed, Microsoft is expected to make more refined adjustments around price, content mix, and subscription levels in the next step, in order to seek to rebuild Game Pass's "value for money" market image within a price range acceptable to players.