Xbox reportedly planning à la carte Game Pass overhaul

Xbox is reportedly planning a major overhaul of Game Pass that would let subscribers choose features à la carte. The claim comes from a Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, which cites people familiar with the strategy. Nothing has been announced by Microsoft.

According to Fortune, players would pick from options including cloud gaming, multiplayer, and add-ons for console-only games, with the service running on a tiered structure. The magazine’s wording, as quoted by IGN, is that Xbox is planning a “major overhaul of Game Pass that would have players choose features à la carte.”

The report fits earlier claims. GameSpot notes that in April it was reported Microsoft was preparing a “pick-your-own” version of Game Pass, and that a September rumor described tiers with and without ads, no more day-one first-party releases, and a Family Plan. Sharma has said she plans to “evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system.”

Other claims in the Fortune profile

The same piece covers more than the subscription. Per Rock Paper Shotgun and GameSpot, it says further Xbox layoff rounds are planned, as part of cuts totaling about 3,200 jobs (GameSpot says more than 3,000). The outlets differ on timing: Rock Paper Shotgun reads the report as pointing to this month, November and January, while GameSpot lists this month, October, and January 2027. Fortune also noted such plans can change.

Fortune also reportedly says a next-generation Xbox handheld is aimed at the 2027 holiday season, with a new console, referred to by IGN as Project Helix, not due until 2028. Rock Paper Shotgun says internal projections put the console at $1,200 to $1,800 unless Xbox subsidizes it. GameSpot adds that several Xbox employees have reportedly seen internal presentations about the possibility of Xbox being sold or spun off.

Why it matters

Game Pass has been central to Xbox’s strategy, but Fortune describes internal trouble with it. The profile says the service helped build a subscription business while cannibalizing sales of higher-priced first-party games, especially at launch, and that competing metrics between teams, such as subscription revenue versus store revenue, made this worse, according to former employees.

Sharma has already changed the service. Per GameSpot and IGN, new Call of Duty releases have been removed from Game Pass and the price of Game Pass Ultimate has been cut. GameSpot adds that Xbox will start charging for more cloud-gaming time, which many commenters expect to make Game Pass worse and more expensive.

What we don’t know yet

The report gives no pricing for the proposed tiers, no launch timing for the overhaul, and no detail on which features would be bundled. Whether the layoff schedule or hardware plans hold is also unconfirmed, since all of it rests on anonymous sourcing.