Xbox Game Pass Lost "Millions" of Subscribers After Price Increase

Last year, Xbox decided to increase the price of Game Pass Ultimate by 50%, to $30, leading to a massive number of players unsubscribing from the service.

Until recently, the number was unclear, but at Summer Game Fest, chief strategy officer Matthew Ball admitted that Xbox lost "millions" of subscribers in the first months after the change, later revised by the company's new CEO, Asha Sharma.

Almost immediately after the hike was introduced, it was speculated that Call of Duty, Xbox's gold mine, lost $300 million in potential earnings, and Ball's report supports the claim, making it hard to imagine the hit the company took from this ill-advised decision. 

Game Pass Ultimate is now $23, but CoD is no longer available from day one. The value of the offering has now changed, Ball said, and the changes to Game Pass are "resonating" with users so far.

With Xbox failing to overpower PlayStation, there are rumors that the company will stop making consoles, but it has no such plans, Ball said. Moreover, it will continue releasing exclusives, although not as many as before.

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