Game Pass could be about to break apart into pieces you pick yourself. According to Fortune, Xbox is planning a major Game Pass overhaul that would let players choose features à la carte. That would include add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming and multiplayer, all on a tiered structure. Xbox hasn’t announced anything, but the direction fits everything it has done to Game Pass this year.
What Fortune reported
In its 20th October profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Fortune writes that “Xbox is planning a major overhaul of Game Pass that would have players choose features à la carte, including add-ons for console-only games, cloud gaming, and multiplayer, with the system operating on a tiered structure, according to people familiar with the strategy.”
That’s the full extent of the detail. There are no prices, no timing and nothing on which features would stay in the base subscription. The Verge points out it’s “not clear what happens to day one games and the overall price of Game Pass”. It also links the report to rumours last month of Game Pass tiers with and without ads, Netflix-style. Ars Technica notes the shift from today’s plans, which all bundle some cloud gaming, console exclusives and console multiplayer, “even for players who don’t make use of them”.
Why Xbox might do it
Fortune’s sources are blunt about Game Pass’s side effects. Former employees say it cannibalised sales of Xbox’s full-price first-party games, especially at launch. They also say competing internal metrics, such as subscription revenue against store revenue, made the problem worse.
Xbox’s own memos point the same way. In April’s “We Are Xbox” memo, Sharma and Matt Booty promised “flexible pricing so it’s easy to get started and keep playing”. They also set a goal to “fortify Game Pass with clear differentiation and sustainable economics”. In June, the pair said Game Pass had started to grow again after more than eight months of decline.
Cloud is already being split off
The cloud part of this is already happening. From November, Xbox is ending unlimited cloud play on Game Pass. Ultimate gets 15 hours a month, Premium 10 and Essential 5, and you buy more time from the Xbox Store once they’re used. Alongside that, Xbox has priced Cloud Playtime packs for people who don’t subscribe at all. For Insiders, they’re $3.99 for 10 hours, $7.99 for 25 and $11.99 for 50, and the hours don’t expire. A paid cloud add-on is the obvious next step from there.
What we don’t know
Nearly everything that matters to subscribers is still unknown. We don’t know what a base Game Pass would include, what each add-on would cost, whether day-one first-party games would stay in Ultimate, or when any of it would happen. There’s also no word on UK pricing. Until Xbox announces something, treat this as reported plans, not a done deal.
If you’re weighing up your Game Pass this month, nothing changes yet. October’s Wave 2 is still rolling out as normal. Fortune’s profile also covers the next Xbox’s projected $1,200–$1,800 price and a 2027 handheld, Sharma’s 1 billion daily players goal and more planned layoffs.
Would you build your own Game Pass, or do you want everything in one plan? Tell us on X or Facebook.
