Microsoft’s Xbox division has seen a slump in the last few years, as their Xbox Everywhere strategy failed to take hold. In 2026, Phil Spencer stepped down as CEO and new CEO, Asha Sharma was brought in, and has now started to make her mark on the gaming division.
The changes are simple, and make for a short, sharp shock to re-invigorate the division. The changes start within, with the Microsoft Gaming division changing back to being just simple ‘Xbox’, with Ms Sharma also announcing a new logo for Xbox to band behind.
The announcement of just ‘We are Xbox’ is simple, as is the return to the simple green Xbox logo that many older gamers will remember fondly.
There’s other changes afoot, with Microsoft also announcing changes to their Game Pass service.
Microsoft updated their Game Pass plans in October last year, and to say they weren’t popular is an understatement.
The pricing sees their top-tier Ultimate bundle dropping from offer discounts for PC, as well as the Ultimate bundle – with Premium and Essential staying the same
The new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan will drop from $35.95 a month to just $25.95, while PC Game Pass will get a discount to $16.45 per month – down from $19.45 per month.
The major change is that Call of Duty will no longer be included with the Essential or Premium bundles, with Ultimate and PC tiers now having to wait a year for new Call of Duty titles to be added. Existing Call of Duty titles in the Xbox library will remain available though.
It’s not perfect, but it is change and the Xbox team noted that ‘Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far. We’ll continue to listen and learn.’ so we may see more re-jigging on Game Pass in the future.
You can check the Game Pass website to see more on the plans, or sign-up.
Daniel has been talking about, learning about and using tech since he was able to toggle switches and push buttons. If it flashes, turns on or off or connects he wants to use it, talk about it and learn more about it. Like this article? Buy me a coffee!
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