Asha Sharma, the new boss of Xbox and chief executive officer of Microsoft Gaming, is looking at ways to make good on her promise to bring about the “return of Xbox,” and part of how she’s looking to do that according to a report from The Information (spotted by GameSpot) is by making Xbox Game Pass and the entire brand “more enticing to a broader range of customers,” specifically by trying to “offer lower-priced tiers.”
Yes, that’s right. According to the report, Sharma is potentially going to give herself the easiest slam-dunk she can as she begins her tenure as the public face of Microsoft’s gaming platform. Lowering the prices of Game Pass instead of raising them as Microsoft did last year would definitely earn her some goodwill from players.
But how far that goodwill extends will depend on whether prices are actually lowered, or if they’re just brought back to what they were after the price increase prior to the last one. A lower price is a lower price at the end of the day, but with the last increase still fresh in players’ minds, it won’t feel like a true discount if it’s just back to how it was before.
Though it’ll be interesting to see what those reportedly lower-priced tiers look like, especially compared to what will remain the top-end, most expensive tiers, because Sharma is also reportedly planning to go further than just lower prices.
The report adds that Xbox is also looking at repackaging Xbox Game Pass to include other services like a Netflix subscription. Netflix co-chief executive officer Greg Peters said he “wouldn’t eliminate any possibilities” with regard to a partnership with Xbox, and if priced correctly, it could make a Game Pass subscription much more enticing, especially for players who find themselves using their Xbox device as a hub for their media apps more than a gaming console.
There’s also the possibility that this report could be referring to Microsoft finally getting ready to release a version of Game Pass, or at least its Cloud Gaming offering, with ads. A lower barrier to entry supplemented with ads players have to endure is one path we could see Microsoft try, especially since other streaming services (not that they are a direct comparison to Game Pass), like Amazon’s Prime Video have tiers with and without ads.
If you’re curious about what a Game Pass subscription even gets you nowadays, you can check out our Xbox Game Pass hub, which lists every game available in Game Pass and breaks down each tier and its pricing.
Xbox Boss Asha Sharma is Reportedly Looking at Making Xbox Game Pass “More Enticing” With “Lower
