Microsoft's new Xbox head, Asha Sharma, mentioned in an internal memo that "Xbox Game Pass has become too expensive," emphasizing the need for service improvements.

This news was confirmed through an internal Microsoft Gaming memo obtained by the overseas media outlet 'The Verge.' According to the report, CEO Sharma expressed the opinion that "while Game Pass is the core of the value Xbox provides, it is certain that the current model is not the final form of Game Pass."

She added, "Game Pass has become too expensive for users in a short period, and we need to find a better value equation," noting that "we must conduct various tests and verify diverse plans to evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system in the long term."

Xbox Game Pass underwent a pricing restructure last October. The Essential (formerly Core) plan increased by 36%, the Premium (formerly Standard) plan by 25%, and the Ultimate plan by 52%. In the case of the Ultimate plan, which saw a price hike of over 50%, additional memberships such as EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, and Fortnite Crew were provided for free, but it still faced criticism from users for being an excessive price increase.

At the time, users who opposed the price hike proceeded to cancel their services globally, leading to a situation where the cancellation page crashed due to a surge in traffic. Some analysts suggested that the background of this price hike was the loss in sales of 'Call of Duty.' According to reports at the time, the losses in the console and PC sectors caused by Call of Duty sales were known to reach approximately $300 million (approx. 400 billion KRW at the time).

With the disclosure of CEO Sharma's memo, the possibility that the Xbox Game Pass composition will be changed to be more rational has been raised. However, specific methods for composition changes or price reductions have not been confirmed. While some speculate that the Call of Duty series could be excluded from Game Pass, attention is focused on the future direction of the service reorganization.