Microsoft Reportedly Plans Major Xbox Game Pass Overhaul with A La Carte Options

Microsoft is planning a major restructuring of Xbox Game Pass that would let subscribers pick individual features à la carte instead of paying only for fixed bundles. The plans, reported in a Fortune profile of Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, point to an effort to stabilize Microsoft's gaming division amid slower growth.

Xbox Game Pass currently sells in predetermined tiers: Game Pass Ultimate for $22.99 a month, Game Pass Premium for $14.99, Game Pass Essential for $9.99, and PC Game Pass for $13.99. Under the reported proposal, Microsoft would keep a base tier while selling separate paid add-ons for features such as cloud gaming, online multiplayer, and console-specific game access.

Slowing Growth and Sales Cannibalization

The proposed shift follows missed growth expectations. Game Pass subscriber numbers plateaued around 35 million, missing Microsoft's internal target of more than 100 million. Internal concerns have also focused on how day-one subscription access affects direct retail sales. Fortune reported that the service cannibalized sales of higher-priced first-party releases during critical launch windows.

"While those businesses have created meaningful value, they did not grow at the pace we expected," Sharma told Fortune. "As that happened, our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome. And now the industry is facing the most severe hardware crisis in history. We must reset Xbox."

Project Helix and Handheld Hardware Timelines

The subscription review aligns with hardware adjustments under Sharma, who became Xbox CEO in February 2026. Microsoft is targeting holiday 2027 for a next-generation handheld device and holiday 2028 for its next home console, codenamed Project Helix.

Project Helix carries steep projected manufacturing costs. Internal estimates place its un-subsidized retail price between $1,200 and $1,800, leaving it uncertain whether Microsoft will subsidize consumer retail pricing. Software strategy remains another internal hurdle, with Xbox leadership clashing with the Windows division over whether the handheld should run proprietary Xbox software or a stripped-down version of Windows Home.

These platform shifts coincide with broader cost reductions across the gaming division, where Microsoft plans to cut 3,200 jobs by the end of fiscal year 2027.