The new boss of Xbox is reportedly considering a Game Pass tier that would only include first-party Microsoft games.
The Verge’s Tom Warren said Asha Sharma, who replaced Phil Spencer as boss of Xbox earlier this year, is looking at potentially adding the new Game Pass tier as part of a shakeup that would evolve the subscription service “into a more flexible system,” having told staff that “Game Pass has become too expensive for players.“
Microsoft has a vast network of first-party studios, which includes all Activision Blizzard and Bethesda developers. Such a Game Pass tier, were it to come into effect, would presumably be a cheaper option and include the likes of Call of Duty, Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Diablo, Halo, Forza, Gears of War and all the many other first-party games Microsoft has under its belt. Upcoming first-party Microsoft games include Forza Horizon 6, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, and the next mainline Call of Duty, rumored to be Modern Warfare 4.
Microsoft appears to be reassessing all parts of Xbox now that Sharma’s in charge. It is reportedly considering pulling this year’s Call of Duty game out of Xbox Game Pass as a day-one release, with reports indicating the blockbuster first-person shooter series’ addition to Game Pass was one of the reasons the subscription got more expensive.
Microsoft added Call of Duty games to Game Pass following the company’s $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. While former Xbox executives had insisted sales could be boosted by a game’s presence on Game Pass, some publishers remained unconvinced. Former Activision boss Bobby Kotick, for example, was always against putting Call of Duty into subscription services.
More recently, former boss of Sony Interactive Entertainment America, Shawn Layden, has suggested there’s no saving Game Pass. “They are trying so hard to will this into health, despite unfavorable diagnostics and a grim prognosis,” he said. “A clarifying post mortem would do the entire industry some good.”
Image credit: Microsoft.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
