Amid a major "reset" for Xbox under new CEO Asha Sharma, Game Pass prices have dropped dramatically in recent months, following what was apparently a blistering blow back from October's 50% subscription price hike. During a talk at Summer Game Fest 2026, hosted by The Game Business' Christopher Dring and attended by GamesRadar+, Xbox's chief strategy officer Matthew Ball shared a shocking insight into the negative impact Game Pass suffered following that price increase: apparently, "millions of subscribers" were lost.
The Game Awards host Geoff Keighley took to Twitter to share this small snippet from Ball's SGF talk, in which the Xbox exec reportedly attributed this mass exodus directly to the October price jump. Prices are increasing, well, everywhere, but the gaming industry has been hit particularly hard with inflation and US economic policy driving price jumps at Nintendo, PlayStation, and Valve, but even within that context, the 50% increase for Game Pass subscriptions was particularly egregious and seemed to be a breaking point for a good many.
