New Xbox CEO admits Game Pass has become “too expensive” in leaked memo

Microsoft’s new head of Xbox, Asha Sharma, has told staff that Xbox Game Pass “has become too expensive for players” and suggested that changes to the subscription service are coming soon.

The details:

• As reported by The Verge, Sharma wrote in the internal memo that while Game Pass remains a core part of Xbox, the service’s pricing model will be changed in the future as players are being priced out of the subscription. "Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one," the CEO wrote. "Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system which will take time to test and learn around."
• The memo was sent around six months after Microsoft raised the price of Game Pass Ultimate by 50% to around $29.99 per month. It was recently reported that last year’s controversial price hikes were driven in part by the cost of adding new Call of Duty games to the service as day-one releases.
• Currently, Game Pass spans multiple tiers, ranging from the Xbox Live Gold replacement “Essential” tier to “Ultimate,” which offers an entire catalog of games. Over the past few years, rumors have circulated that Microsoft could potentially introduce an ad-supported tier of the service, offering similar benefits to the current tiers, but at a reduced cost in exchange for included advertising.