On April 21, Microsoft's new head of gaming, Asha Sharma, announced significant changes to subscription services. The cost of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate decreased from $29.99 to $22.99 per month, and PC Game Pass from $16.49 to $13.99. Simultaneously, a decision was made to stop adding new Call of Duty series games to the subscription on release day: now, franchise projects will appear in the service only 12 months after their launch.
In an interview with Game File, Sharma also touched upon the possible return to full Xbox exclusives. According to her, a final decision on this direction has not yet been made.
Another important topic was the future of the next generation of consoles. The head confirmed that the shortage and rising cost of memory will directly affect the price of the new system, codenamed Project Helix. According to her, these factors may also affect the device's availability on the market.
Sharma emphasized that the company is not yet ready to announce the console's launch dates, but development is actively continuing. Devkits are planned to be sent to partners next year. At the same time, she made it clear that Microsoft is unlikely to subsidize the device's cost to lower the price for consumers, which could complicate the console's position at launch.