Asha Sharma is planning major changes to Xbox Game Pass, according to Fortune, which spoke with current and former Microsoft employees.
The head of Xbox has no plans to abandon the service's multiple subscription tiers, but she wants to make them more flexible. The idea is to let users pay only for the features they actually want. For example, Microsoft could offer separate payment options for console games, cloud gaming, or multiplayer features.
Reworking Game Pass's business model could attract new subscribers and increase the service's profitability. This aligns with the broader goal of Sharma and her team to improve Xbox's overall financial performance.
Microsoft representatives also acknowledged that the company has made several mistakes in recent years. One example was adding Call of Duty games to Game Pass. The move contributed to a subscription price increase that drove some users away, while sales of the shooters fell significantly. Similar concerns apply to other major releases, including Gears of War: E-Day.
The next Call of Duty installment is scheduled to launch on October 23, but it will not join the Game Pass catalog until the 2027 holiday season.
Another issue was the lack of coordination between Microsoft's divisions. The Game Pass team focused on growing its subscriber base, while other employees aimed to increase game sales. As a result, the company struggled to achieve its goals in either area.
Xbox Chief Content Officer Matt Booty commented on the situation:
It's not that either of those bets didn't work on their own. It's just that maybe we didn't connect them together as well as we should have.
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