Xbox Game Pass price cut shows early signs of success, exec says
▼ Summary
– Microsoft cut the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from £23 to £17 and PC Game Pass from £13.50 to £11, leading to increased subscriber acquisitions and improved retention.
– The price reduction removed new Call of Duty games as day-one releases on Game Pass Ultimate; they will instead be sold separately and added about a year later.
– Asha Sharma, who took over as Xbox head in February, made the price cut and other changes like ending the “Everything’s an Xbox” campaign and supporting Project Helix, a PC-console hybrid device.
– Sharma led superficial branding updates, including a new Xbox logo and uppercase “XBOX” styling, which she described as deliberate choices to strengthen the brand.
– Microsoft faces a boycott due to its connections with the Israeli military, with some game teams returning Xbox funding amid calls to boycott Xbox products.
Microsoft’s decision to lower the price of Xbox Game Pass appears to be yielding early positive results, according to internal communications from the company’s leadership. In a memo obtained by The Verge, Xbox head Asha Sharma told staff that the pricing adjustment has helped reverse a troubling trend.
Sharma wrote: “Growth slowed down and subscriber loss accelerated after the pricing and SKU changes last year. Since our price reduction we have seen acquisitions grow and retention improve, which is a good first step.”
The price cut took effect last month, with Microsoft slashing the monthly cost of its top-tier Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from £23 ($30) to £17 ($23). The PC Game Pass subscription also dropped from £13.50 to £11 per month. One notable trade-off: new Call of Duty titles will no longer launch day-one on Game Pass Ultimate. Instead, they will be sold separately and added to the service roughly a year later.
While Sharma’s memo suggests a tangible and fairly immediate impact, the exact scale of improvement remains unclear. Terms like “acquisitions growing and retention improving” are vague, and the numerical shift could be modest. Still, the change marks a concrete outcome after months of behind-the-scenes restructuring at Xbox, following Sharma’s takeover from Phil Spencer in February.
Sharma’s tenure has already seen several strategic moves. She abandoned the “Everything’s an Xbox” campaign, which had diluted the console’s identity, and has emphasized re-supporting the Xbox console proposition. The company is also reportedly working on Project Helix, a PC-console hybrid device intended to revitalize the brand.
On the marketing front, Xbox has introduced a new logo, a Player Voice feedback system for community input, and the controversial rebranding of the name in all-caps as XBOX,a stylistic choice many are ignoring.
Sharma defended these changes in her memo: “We are building a stronger XBOX. That means making hard choices about what we build, where we invest, and what kind of company we need to be going forward. That is part of what you are starting to see in the shift from Xbox to XBOX. It reflects a decision to be deliberate in how we show up for the players who care most about this brand.”
Whether that rhetoric resonates remains to be seen. A critical test comes next week when Sharma leads the Xbox Games Showcase on June 7th at 6pm UK time (10am PDT),a stage long dominated by Phil Spencer. Sharma acknowledged in the memo that “we will not solve this in one moment or one launch,” so the upcoming event will be crucial for demonstrating what Xbox has planned for the year ahead. It’s a major opportunity for Sharma to win over a core gaming audience.
However, the company’s ongoing connections with the Israeli military and the regime’s treatment of Palestinians cast a shadow over these efforts. Calls to boycott Xbox games and products have intensified, and some smaller game teams have already returned Xbox funding in protest.
(Source: Eurogamer.net)
