Xbox Announce Price DECREASE For Game Pass

TL;DR

New Xbox boss Asha Sharma cut Game Pass Ultimate from $30 to $23/month, reversing a controversial price hike that crashed the cancellation page.

Key Points

• 1.Xbox accumulated years of damaging price increases before this reversal. Xbox Series X hit $400, the 2TB model reached $800, first-party games briefly pushed to $80, and Game Pass Ultimate climbed to $30/month ($360/year) — double the cost of PlayStation Plus's most expensive tier at $160/year.
• 2.The $30 Game Pass price triggered massive subscriber backlash. Announcement videos were heavily downvoted, Game Pass prices doubled in Brazil, and the subscription cancellation page literally crashed from the volume of users trying to unsubscribe simultaneously.
• 3.Phil Spencer retired and Sarah Bond was ousted in February 2026, with Microsoft AI executive Asha Sharma named new Xbox head. Many skeptics feared her AI background signaled Microsoft pushing AI into gaming rather than a genuine gaming revival.
• 4.On April 21st, 2026, Sharma officially dropped Game Pass Ultimate from $30 to $23/month — a $7 reduction saving subscribers $84 per year. Sharma's internal memo had already stated 'Game Pass has become too expensive for players' and promised a 'more flexible system.'
• 5.Future Call of Duty titles will no longer launch day-one on Game Pass Ultimate, arriving roughly one year after release instead. The previous arrangement hurt Call of Duty sales significantly, and Battlefield 6 outsold it for the first time — making the business case for removing day-one access clear.
• 6.Despite the positive reception, Xbox exclusivity remains unresolved and unlikely short-term. Leaker Sneakers SO says exclusives are 'never coming back,' while Windows Central's Jez Corden reports internal discussions are ongoing but inconclusive — the lack of exclusives continues to weaken Xbox's platform identity.