Xbox, Microsoft's confession: millions of Game Pass subscribers lost after price hikes

Microsoft is trying to revive the Game Pass service after significant price increases introduced in 2025 caused a substantial loss of users.

According to Matthew Ball, an analyst in the video game industry and recently appointed head of Xbox strategy, the service lost millions of subscribers in the months following the price hike that came into effect last October.

The increase particularly impacted the Game Pass Ultimate plan, which saw its monthly cost rise to €26.99, marking a 35% increase. Such a sharp price growth led many users to cancel their subscriptions, resulting in a more severe impact than initially anticipated.

This situation helps explain the quick intervention by the new head of the Xbox division, Asha Sharma. In the following months, Microsoft announced a price reduction, bringing the cost of the Ultimate plan down to €20.99 per month. While still above the levels before the increase, the new price was received more favorably by the community.

Did Asha Sharma patch the exodus of Xbox Game Pass users? However, the price adjustment did not come without consequences. One of the most significant changes is the new management of the Call of Duty series within the Game Pass catalog. New installments will no longer be available from the day of launch but will be added only about a year after their release.

Despite this compromise, early results seem encouraging. Just a few weeks after the announcement of the price cuts, Sharma stated that there had been an increase in new memberships and an improvement in the retention of subscribed users. Ball also highlighted how the new pricing policy is receiving a positive response from players.

The price reduction represents just one element of Xbox's relaunch strategy. In recent months, Microsoft has implemented various initiatives aimed at strengthening the competitiveness of its ecosystem, including a greater focus on console exclusives.