Rumor: XBOX Might be Scaling Back Its Third-Party Game Pass Deals

Some partnerships have allegedly been truncated or outright ended.

It's a time of upheaval at XBOX as Asha Sharma continues to do what she can to return the brand back to both profits and prominence. The latest scuttlebutt is that XBOX is scaling back its third-party partnerships with developers for Game Pass, the company's tiered subscription service. As XBOX looks to potentially slash multiple studios to save costs, the money is seemingly not there anymore to spend freely on projects specifically targeted for the platform.

That's not to say XBOX is ending these partnerships entirely. Instead, the company is alleged to be rethinking existing and future deals. This includes pausing and in some cases outright canceling projects already in discussion or active development. The move is said to be targeting the current fiscal year as Sharma's reboot of XBOX continues apace. It's also worth noting that up until XBOX rolled back the price of Game Pass, the service had been hemorrhaging subscribers, further compounding the issue. However, Sharma reports that the price cut has rekindled interest in Game Pass, driving memberships and retention.

As XBOX refocuses its efforts, these moves could prove to help save the brand in the longterm.

Source: Windows Central