Game Pass bled millions of subscribers after price hike, Microsoft says Xbox not in 'healthy place'

The 50% Game Pass price hike damaged the Xbox brand on a substantial level, and current CEO Asha Sharma says that the business still is not healthy...yet.

3

Last year, Microsoft made one of the most unpopular moves in gaming history by raising the price of Game Pass Ultimate from $20 to $30 a month. Game Pass' subscriber counts were scorched in the aftermath, with multiple millions of users leaving the service and not renewing their memberships.

The not-so-surprising info was revealed by new Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball, who told The Game Business that Microsoft lost millions of Game Pass subscribers after the steep price jump. No current Game Pass subscriber counts were provided, but as of February 2024, months before Ultimate was hiked to $19.99 per month, the service had 34 million subscribers. An update in June 2025 said Game Pass was at 35 million

3

"Asha has been clear that our business today is not healthy, and she's been clear that we are turning around the business," Ball said during the interview.

The dynamics of Game Pass are a hard nut to crack, and despite Game Pass generating nearly $5 billion in revenue in one year, the service apparently just needs more subscribers now in order for it to really be worth it, long-term, for Microsoft's software distribution plans.

Xbox's new CEO Asha Sharma has been quick to make adjustments to Game Pass. The first move was to drop the steep $30/month price tag down to more manageable $23/month. The trade off is that Call of Duty games are no longer day 1 releases on Game Pass.

The most radical change in Microsoft's plan is re-embracing Xbox console exclusives. The firm broke exclusivity back in 2024, leading to multi-million sales in a number of games, and is now moving back towards exclusive games--albeit on a smaller-scale so far.

Two Xbox games have been confirmed as exclusive, Gears of War E-Day and Clockwork Revolution, and from the looks of it, Microsoft could have at least one Xbox console exclusive ready per year.