If you've been quietly wincing every time your Xbox Game Pass subscription renews, Microsoft might finally be hearing you. A leaked internal memo, obtained by The Verge, reveals that the company's new Xbox chief Asha Sharma has openly acknowledged what many subscribers have been thinking for a while now.
"Game Pass has become too expensive for players," Sharma wrote in the memo addressed to Xbox employees. She also noted that Microsoft needs "a better value equation" - which is the kind of corporate language that tends to precede actual change rather than just talking about it.
Why this matters
Game Pass has been one of the more genuinely exciting things to happen to gaming in recent years. The subscription model - often described as a "Netflix for games" - promised access to a rotating library of titles for a flat monthly fee. For a while, it felt like a steal.
But prices have crept up over time, and the lineup hasn't always kept pace with expectations. When the person running your gaming division is admitting internally that the product costs too much, that's a meaningful signal. This isn't a critic or a disgruntled subscriber talking - it's the new boss.
Sharma also pointed out in the memo that "the current model isn't the final one," which suggests the team is actively working through what comes next rather than just doing damage control.
What could change?
The memo doesn't spell out specific plans, but the acknowledgment of a broken "value equation" hints that Microsoft is weighing its options - whether that's new pricing tiers, better day-one releases, or a restructured lineup. Sharma's framing of Game Pass as "central to gaming value on Xbox" makes it clear the service isn't going anywhere. It's the shape of it that's up for reconsideration.
For subscribers, the takeaway is cautiously good news. Having leadership publicly - even if internally - admit a problem is usually step one in actually fixing it. Whether the fix arrives as a price cut, a cheaper entry tier, or something more creative remains to be seen.
In the meantime, it's at least reassuring to know someone at the top is paying attention.
