Microsoft gaming chief admits Xbox Game Pass is too expensive, needs changes
A leaked memo from Xbox’s new gaming chief says Game Pass is too expensive, putting fresh pressure on Microsoft’s subscription model after another round of price hikes.
Xbox Game Pass is now under its clearest internal scrutiny yet: Microsoft’s new gaming chief, Asha Sharma, admitted in a leaked memo that the service is too expensive and the current model needs changes. For players, that lands right on the wallet after a year of higher monthly bills and a subscription ladder that keeps getting reshaped instead of settled.
The latest hike took effect on October 1, 2025, when Game Pass Ultimate jumped from $19.99 to $29.99 a month. Game Pass Standard was renamed Game Pass Premium and climbed from $11.99 to $14.99, Game Pass Core became Game Pass Essential at $9.99, and PC Game Pass rose from $11.99 to $16.49. Microsoft has tried to justify the new pricing by pointing to expanded benefits, including more than 75 day-one releases a year, enhanced cloud streaming, and extras such as Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics in Ultimate.
That pitch has not stopped the pressure. Game Pass Standard first launched on September 10, 2024, after Microsoft spent the previous year overhauling its lineup. Game Pass Core replaced Xbox Live Gold on September 14, 2023, and Microsoft later removed the old console-only Game Pass for Console tier. When the company faced FTC criticism in July 2024, it argued that calling the new Standard tier a degraded version of Game Pass for Console was wrong.
The problem for Microsoft is that the service now has to do too much at once. Ultimate is being sold as the premium catch-all, with more than 400 games globally, more than 75 day-one releases each year, Fortnite Crew, and Ubisoft+ Classics folded in. At the same time, the cheaper tiers are being renamed, repriced, and repositioned often enough that the value proposition keeps shifting under players who just want to know what they are paying for and whether day-one access is still the headline perk.
Microsoft has publicly framed the changes as more flexibility, more choice, and more value, while also acknowledging that price increases are unpopular and saying it is listening to player feedback. Sharma’s memo cuts through that messaging: if Xbox’s own leadership is admitting Game Pass is too expensive, the next question is whether Microsoft trims the price, reshapes the tiers again, or starts pulling back on the day-one model that made the service matter in the first place.
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