Xbox CEO addresses Game Pass price - and gamers are all saying the same thing

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has reportedly said in an internal memo that Game Pass "has become too expensive" and gamers online are unanimous in their thoughts about it.

In October, Xbox confirmed the price of an Ultimate subscription would rise from $19.99 to a whopping $29.99 per month in the US. PC Game Pass went up to $16.49 from $11.99 but Premium ($14.99) and Standard ($9.99) tiers remained the same.

Xbox said more day one releases and other perks would be introduced to justify the price hike but it caused a lot of gamers to unsubscribe.

An internal memo from Sharma, who was appointed Xbox CEO in February, was recently obtained by The Verge and it said Game Pass has become too costly for gamers.

The memo is reported to have said: "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."

Sharma's comments were posted in the Gaming Subreddit and gamers have been unanimous about these thoughts in the comments.

One said: "Had Game Pass since the beginning, their last price hike was enough to make me say goodbye."

A second speculated: "Ya they'll lower the price for a version with ads and raise the current one for ad free."

"$9.95 was perfect," a third commented. "I would subscribe all 12 months. After it went to $12 I would pick and choose what months I wanted to play. Now I stay unsubscribed and just buy the game on Steam sale, much cheaper than renting on Game Pass. Why pay $15 to rent one month when I can pay a bit more to own it or even less with deep sales?"

A fourth added: "The sudden price increase is exactly why I stopped subbing and started buying games at deep discounts or second hand online. They pushed me away from Game Pass."

And a fifth said: "When people can buy a brand new AAA title for two months of your crappy subscription service, no one is going to see the value in it."

Elsewhere from indy100:

• I've played Forza Horizon 6 and it could be the best arcade racer of all time
• Xbox Games Showcase and Gears of War E-Day Direct details confirmed - everything we know so far

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Sign up to our free indy100 weekly newsletter

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.