Xbox is reportedly creating a new Game Pass tier to capture the ever growing Chinese gaming market
Projecting success.
According to a new report, and hints from new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Microsoft is rolling out a new tier of Game Pass specifically aimed at Chinese gamers.
This information, coming from Windows Central, claims that “Project Saluki” is that new tier, aimed at appealing to gamers present in the Chinese market. It’ll do so by being tailored by “China’s unique regulatory environment and gamer preferences.”
This would come at a time when the Chinese market has proven exceptionally powerful for the video game industry. Big releases from the region have proven that developers there are more than capable at creating worldwide hits, such as Black Myth Wukong which shot past 10m sales across all platforms in short order.
An increasing number of Steam users are also Chinese. A March 2025 Steam user survey found that those using simplified Chinese on the platform increased by 20.88 percent, reaching roughly half of all users.
It would also come at a time when Xbox is sorely in need of an ace or two up its sleeve. While it has gained a new CEO recently in Sharma, the Xbox Series X/S has certainly struggled, suffering the worst year on record in the UK last year. Sharma has pushed forward some bold initiatives to help combat this, including a revamp of the leadership team and a new Discord x Game Pass partnership.
According to a new report, and hints from new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Microsoft is rolling out a new tier of Game Pass specifically aimed at Chinese gamers.
This information, coming from Windows Central, claims that “Project Saluki” is that new tier, aimed at appealing to gamers present in the Chinese market. It’ll do so by being tailored by “China’s unique regulatory environment and gamer preferences.”
This would come at a time when the Chinese market has proven exceptionally powerful for the video game industry. Big releases from the region have proven that developers there are more than capable at creating worldwide hits, such as Black Myth Wukong which shot past 10m sales across all platforms in short order.
An increasing number of Steam users are also Chinese. A March 2025 Steam user survey found that those using simplified Chinese on the platform increased by 20.88 percent, reaching roughly half of all users.
It would also come at a time when Xbox is sorely in need of an ace or two up its sleeve. While it has gained a new CEO recently in Sharma, the Xbox Series X/S has certainly struggled, suffering the worst year on record in the UK last year. Sharma has pushed forward some bold initiatives to help combat this, including a revamp of the leadership team and a new Discord x Game Pass partnership.