Xbox CEO 'would love to chat' with ex-PlayStation boss Shawn Layden about Game Pass

Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden has been outspoken about Game Pass for quite some time, and his recent comments have caught the attention of current CEO Asha Sharma.

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Despite thunderous $5 billion gross revenues, and assertions of profitability from management, Xbox Game Pass has been criticized by industry analysts and executives alike, including former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden. By including new AAA games day and date, the service seems to operate on a kind of deferred success subscription model that potentially devalues front-line pricing of big games in favor of the hopes of facilitating long-term subscriptions. This effect remains the principal criticism of the service.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has recently called for a change in the Game Pass model, saying that it's too expensive in the short term and too inflexible in the long-term. This is quite topical, because former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden also recently shared a fiery comment on a LinkedIn post centered on Game Pass, saying: "They are trying so hard to will this into health, despite unfavorable diagnostics and a grim prognosis. A clarifying post mortem would do the entire industry some good."

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This prompted Asha Sharma to respond--she's interested in speaking to Layden about Game Pass, but it's unclear whether or not Sharma is seeking advice from the former PlayStation executive in how to shape Game Pass, or if she's attempting to make corrective clarifications on how the service operates.

Read Also:Opinion: Game Pass tier with first-party games won't fix the subscription's biggest problem

Game Pass has indeed been a mysterious force in the Xbox ecosystem. Layden's calls for a post mortem would shine a light on Game Pass and expose parts of its inner workings to provide transparency to the industry at large.

The service maximizes consumer value while lowering the access price to its biggest games, all set as a big value proposition on Microsoft's own first-party Xbox-and-PC platform combo. The ins and outs on how the service operates--and how its $5 billion coffers are doled out among the developers that supply the hundreds of games on the subscription--aren't very evident.

In that same LinkedIn comment thread, gaming CFO Laurent Saurel actually reaffirmed my recent analysis on Game Pass regarding first-party AAA games launching day one on Game Pass:

"Having AAA day 1 titles will always make it very difficult to turn a profit on big franchises," Saurel said.

Even with the data leaks from the FTC v Microsoft trial in 2023, the formulaic approach to assigning value amongst Xbox's first-party games still remains a mystery.

Perhaps Game Pass could ultimately shift and evolve with Layden's feedback, however Microsoft has yet to announce or confirm any specifics on how the service will change.