Microsoft's "roller coaster" ride on subscription service pricing has taken a dramatic turn. According to the latest disclosed internal memo, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma confirmed that the sharp price increase of Game Pass in October 2025 led to accelerated user losses, but the subsequent price adjustment authorized in February 2026 has successfully reversed this trend.
Sharma admitted in the memo: "After last year's price and SKU adjustments, service growth slowed down and user churn accelerated." She pointed out that the subscription service once "became too expensive for players."
Review previous price adjustments:
2024:Ultimate tier increases from $16.99 to $19.99 per month
October 2025:Ultimate soars to $29.99, and some tiers even lose launch game rights
Sharma quickly made adjustments after taking over as CEO in February 2026:
·Ultimate tier drops to $22.99/month
·PC users also enjoy the price reduction
· Price:Players will no longer be able to play future Call of Duty series titles through Game Pass
The results showed that “subscriber acquisition has grown and retention has improved since the price reduction.” However, she stressed that this was only a "good first step."
XBOX has pushed a large number of original exclusive games to PS5 in recent years, a strategy that analyst Michael Pachter sees as one of the factors that weakens the appeal of subscriptions. In addition, former Arkane Studio founder Raphael Colantonio once criticized that the Game Pass model that was added to the game at launch deprived the game of the window for full-price sales, and even led to the closure of some studios.