{"id":66714,"date":"2026-07-07T08:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T00:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66714"},"modified":"2026-07-07T08:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T00:42:59","slug":"game-pass-could-see-major-change-under-new-xbox-restructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/?p=66714","title":{"rendered":"Game Pass could see major change under new Xbox restructure"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Xbox as we know it is about to look very different, CEO Asha Sharma announced Monday in a publicly distributed memo detailing the company\u2019s new plans. 3,200 layoffs. Four (maybe five) studio divestments. Sweeping changes to management structures. And broad implications about how Xbox will approach its business over the next 12 months.<\/p>\n

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Amid it all, Game Pass, Xbox\u2019s games-on-demand service and the linchpin of its strategy in the post-COVID era, was curiously absent from today\u2019s announcement, at least explicitly. In her memo to staff, Sharma mentioned \u201cGame Pass\u201d just once, in a paragraph that can most generously be read as a skewering of former CEO Phil Spencer\u2019s decade-long regime:<\/p>\n

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“Our business today is not healthy. We are operating at margins that are 3-10x lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. We entered Gen 9 with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure. To grow, we bet on Game Pass, multi-platform, and a broader portfolio of content. While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected. As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in its history. We must reset XBOX.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In that reset, Game Pass isn\u2019t going anywhere. Xbox still plans to invest in the service, Game File\u2019s Stephen Totilo reported, citing a source familiar with the company\u2019s plans (in addition to the fact that Game Pass generates $5 billion a year in revenue). But a year from now, Game Pass will likely look much different.<\/p>\n

The most immediate likely impact is to a longtime perk for the service: For years, Xbox has put its first-party games available day one. But with fewer companies making first-party games, that perk will have less going for it.<\/p>\n

Four studios \u2014 Compulsion Games, Double Fine Productions, Ninja Theory, and Undead Labs \u2014 will no longer be part of Xbox Game Studios. And the fate of Arkane Studios, which is based in France, is unclear while Xbox explores \u201cpotential strategic options\u201d in accordance with French labor laws. Since Xbox\u2019s big acquisition spree in the late 2010s, those studios have released the following games day one on Game Pass, marking a notable addition to the service’s day-one offerings:<\/p>\n