Xbox CEO Admits Game Pass Is Too Expensive

"Game Pass has become too expensive for players." Those aren't the words of a frustrated Reddit post or a viral tweet. They're from Asha Sharma, Microsoft Gaming's new CEO, in an internal memo to Xbox employees obtained and published by The Verge.

The admission is striking because Microsoft spent the last two years doing the exact opposite of what Sharma is now promising. Game Pass Ultimate went from $15 to $20 in 2024, then jumped again to $30 in October 2025. That's a 100% increase from where the service sat just a year and a half earlier. Microsoft tried to soften the blow by bundling in Fortnite Crew memberships, Ubisoft Classics access, and cloud gaming perks, but the math never really worked for most subscribers. Doubling the price and tossing in things many players didn't ask for isn't a value proposition; it's a price hike wearing a disguise.

"Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It's also clear that the current model isn't the final one," Sharma wrote in the memo. "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 Call of Duty Problem

The Verge's reporting points to Call of Duty's inclusion in Game Pass as a key driver behind the aggressive price increases. The timeline backs that up: Microsoft raised prices just one month before Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launched. The logic was presumably that day-one access to the biggest shooter franchise on the planet justified the cost. But Black Ops 7 had a weak sales year, and Microsoft doesn't publicly share subscriber numbers, so it's impossible to know whether the gamble paid off. Windows Central's Jez Corden speculated over the weekend that Microsoft might pull Call of Duty from Game Pass entirely, which would be a massive reversal of the strategy that defined the Activision Blizzard acquisition's value to Xbox.

I wrote about the $30 price point when it hit, and the reaction from players was immediate and predictable. You can only push subscription fatigue so far before people start cancelling. When your pitch is "pay us double and we'll give you stuff you didn't want," you shouldn't be surprised when the audience walks. The fact that Sharma is openly acknowledging this internally, barely six months into the $30 tier, tells you everything about how those retention numbers must look behind closed doors.

Sharma's memo doesn't outline specific changes. She told staff she'd "go deeper" on the topic in the coming weeks, which is vague but at least suggests active planning rather than lip service. Separately, Kotaku reported that Sharma met with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters last month to discuss potential bundling between Game Pass and Netflix, and that Microsoft has been exploring ad-supported tiers to subsidize cheaper plans. Both ideas borrow directly from the streaming TV playbook, for better or worse.

What makes this interesting is around Sharma's appointment. She came in after a major executive shakeup earlier this year, replacing the Phil Spencer era with promises about "the return of Xbox." She caught criticism for her perceived lack of gaming credentials, and the fastest way to win over a skeptical audience is to fix the thing they're loudest about. A meaningful Game Pass price reduction, or even a flexible tier system that lets players pay for what they actually use, would go further than any corporate memo. Microsoft also has its upcoming Project Helix console on the horizon, and launching expensive new hardware while your subscription service bleeds goodwill is a combination that doesn't end well. Sharma reportedly told staff she's aware of the online speculation and rumours, which at minimum suggests she's paying attention to the right conversations.