Xbox’s new CEO Asha Sharma just got back from the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco earlier this month, where she seemingly made the rounds among both high-level executives and indie developers in an effort to lay out her vision for the brand to come. And reportedly, one component of that may involve making Xbox Game Pass more affordable.
This comes from a report by The Information, which spoke to multiple individuals who themselves spoke to Sharma about Game Pass. They claim that she wants to “make future consoles and products like Game Pass more enticing to a broader range of customers”, an effort which may include “revamping pricing models to offer lower-priced tiers.”
She’s also reportedly looking into partnerships with other companies such as Netflix, with Netflix CEO Greg Peters saying he’s met with Sharma several times and that they have “kicked around ideas” for subscription bundle partnerships.
If this discussion turns into action, this would be a welcome move from consumers after several years of price hike after price hike amid a broader, increasingly expensive economic environment. Last year, Xbox raised prices on consoles and accessories in May, upped console prices in the U.S. a second time in September, and then raised Game Pass prices in October (including doubling the price of Ultimate).
With Xbox console prices starting at $400 in the U.S. for the cheapest Series S, reaching as high as $800 for the Galaxy Special Edition, and with Game Pass Ultimate at $30/month, it’s no wonder Sharma is considering some sort of relief for consumers.
That said, given the broader economic situations around tariffs and technology, one must imagine there would be a trade-off for cheaper Game Pass tiers, such as some form of ad integration (which has been reported on before) or otherwise. Currently Xbox Game Pass Essential is only $10/month, but it includes just the bare bones: a limited Game Pass library, online multiplayer, and a handful of other perks. It’s not getting you day one Call of Duty.
Broadly, Sharma’s appointment as head of Xbox has been a surprise to say the least. Though perhaps former Xbox head Phil Spencer’s retirement has been in the tea leaves for a while, the announcement of former president of Microsoft CoreAI as the new gaming lead wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card.
As a result, Sharma has been doing her best to demonstrate both to industry colleagues and the general public that she’s not showing up to shut down Xbox, or turn it into a machine that spits out bad generative AI.
At GDC, Sharma met with both fellow gaming execs and indie developers, with (as The Information reports) the goal of reassuring both groups that she wasn’t at Xbox to kill the gaming business, but to expand it.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to [email protected].
