{"id":2017201,"date":"2026-06-29T13:49:37","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:49:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2017201"},"modified":"2026-06-29T13:49:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T10:49:37","slug":"xbox-reportedly-stops-signing-third-party-game-pass-deals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2017201","title":{"rendered":"Xbox reportedly stops signing third-party Game Pass deals"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"article \" data-ads=\"true\" data-article-type=\"news\" data-article-group=\"news\" data-paywalled=\"false\" data-premium=\"false\" data-sponsored=\"false\" data-type=\"article\">\n<header class=\"article_header\" data-component=\"article-header\">\n<div class=\"breadcrumbs\">\n<nav class=\"nav_breadcrumbs\" data-component=\"nav-breadcrumbs\" aria-label=\"Breadcrumb\">\n<ul class=\"nav-links\">\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Home<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/news\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      News<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<li>\n                <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/games\/helldivers-2\" data-active=\"false\"><br \/>\n                      Helldivers 2<br \/>\n                <\/a>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/nav><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_details\" id=\"main-content\">\n<h1 class=\"title\">Xbox reportedly stops signing third-party Game Pass deals<\/h1>\n<p class=\"strapline\">A blip or a bigger change?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"headline_asset\">\n<figure class=\"headline_image_wrapper\">\n<p>        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"headline_image\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/game-pass_M3cTnRR.jpg?width=570&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;dpr=3&amp;auto=webp\" alt=\"The green and white of Xbox and Game Pass in a red circle with a line through it, with a background of game pass games in a tile formation.\" loading=\"eager\" data-uri=\"game-pass_M3cTnRR.jpg\" data-lightbox width=\"570\" height=\"321\"><figcaption>\n          <span class=\"attribution\">Image credit: <cite>Eurogamer<\/cite><\/span><br \/>\n        <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"metadata\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n<p>    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" src=\"https:\/\/assetsio.gnwcdn.com\/user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg?width=2048&amp;height=2048&amp;fit=bounds&amp;quality=85&amp;format=jpg&amp;auto=webp\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\"><\/p>\n<p>  <img alt=\"Robert Purchese avatar\" data-autosize=\"crop_lossy\" data-uri=\"user-9946-originalxoriginal-14-03-23.jpg\" loading=\"lazy\" style=\"aspect-ratio: 1\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1017\">\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"text\">\n<div class=\"byline\">\n                  <span class=\"article_type\" data-slug=\"news\"><br \/>\n                    News<br \/>\n                  <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"by\">by<\/span> <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/authors\/robert-purchese\">Robert Purchese<\/a><\/span>                    <span class=\"job_title\"><br \/>\n                      Associate Editor<br \/>\n                    <\/span>\n            <\/div>\n<div class=\"published_at\">\nPublished on <time datetime=\"2026-06-29T13:49:37+00:00\">June 29, 2026<\/time>              <\/div>\n<div class=\"comments\">\n      <a class=\"comments__link comments-bubble\" href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-xbox-game-pass-deals?view=comments\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n          18 comments<br \/>\n      <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"mypop-header-wrapper\">\n<p><button class=\"mypop-button button wide\" data-state=\"follow\" data-type=\"tag\" data-uuid=\"92c48ce5-5823-460b-9a4c-d9394928a7b9\" data-name=\"Helldivers 2\" data-follow-text=\"Follow Helldivers 2\" data-unfollow-text=\"Following Helldivers 2\" data-aria-follow-text=\"Follow Helldivers 2\" data-aria-unfollow-text=\"Following Helldivers 2\" data-popup=\"true\" data-force-login=\"true\" aria-label=\"Follow Helldivers 2\" title=\"Follow Helldivers 2\"><br \/>\n  Follow Helldivers 2<br \/>\n<\/button>          <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Microsoft might have hit pause on signing any more third-party Game Pass deals. Presumably it&#8217;s doing this while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-business-reset\">restructuring Xbox, as it&#8217;s reported to be doing<\/a>, but will it open the cheque book again after?<\/p>\n<p>The news comes from former Raw Fury sales and business development officer Fernando Rizo talking on <a href=\"http:\/\/thebusinessofvideogamespodcast.podbean.com\/\">a podcast he co-hosts called The Business of Video Games<\/a> (episode 59). Rizo was at a trade show in Italy recently and heard that &#8220;word on the street was that loads of people who were in the frame for Game Pass deals &#8211; ie. nothing was inked yet but the deals were in advanced discussions &#8211; everybody got the rug pulled out from under them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think Game Pass is over given that the new incoming leadership have talked a lot about Game Pass,&#8221; Rizo added. &#8220;I think they&#8217;re on pause; I think they&#8217;re figuring it out &#8211; that&#8217;s my read anyway. For the time being, it seems like Game Pass deals: we just did one at Caboodle earlier in the year and I get the feeling that [we] might have been one of the last ones that did.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Xbox is currently being &#8220;reset&#8221; by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">new boss Asha Sharma, who took over in February<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> and Sarah Bond. One of her first big moves was to significantly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-drops-game-pass-prices-call-of-duty-exits-day-one\">discount Game Pass<\/a>, most notably dropping the Ultimate tier from \u00a323 a month to \u00a317 &#8211; the tradeoff being that Call of Duty would no longer be included from day one.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But Game Pass seems to remain a key part of the business. The Xbox Summer Showcase in June consistently reiterated the Game Pass availability of games being shown, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-console-exclusive-strategy-clockwork-revolution-gears-of-war-e-day\">as Xbox pivots back to exclusivity<\/a> being important, some strong Game Pass signings could present an alluring attraction.<\/p>\n<p>However, Xbox is also feeling the pressure to return to profitability after spending exorbitant amounts acquiring gaming studios &#8211; the biggest among them, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-has-finally-bought-activision-blizzard\">Activision Blizzard, for an eye-melting $68.7bn<\/a>. Perhaps it&#8217;s too expensive to keep paying out for third-party Game Pass games; maybe it&#8217;s more cost effective to shrink the net and focus on access to homemade games instead.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, most recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-major-price-increases\">Xbox substantially increased the price of its Xbox Series S\/X consoles<\/a>. The new prices will come into effect from 1st August.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"preferred-source\" data-component=\"preferred-source\">\nLove Eurogamer.net? Make us a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\">Preferred Source on Google<\/a> and catch more of our coverage in your feeds.  <\/div>\n<\/article>\n<div class=\"article_body\" data-component=\"article-content\">\n<div class=\"article_body_content article-styling\">\n<p>Microsoft might have hit pause on signing any more third-party Game Pass deals. Presumably it&#8217;s doing this while <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-layoffs-business-reset\">restructuring Xbox, as it&#8217;s reported to be doing<\/a>, but will it open the cheque book again after?<\/p>\n<p>The news comes from former Raw Fury sales and business development officer Fernando Rizo talking on <a href=\"http:\/\/thebusinessofvideogamespodcast.podbean.com\/\">a podcast he co-hosts called The Business of Video Games<\/a> (episode 59). Rizo was at a trade show in Italy recently and heard that &#8220;word on the street was that loads of people who were in the frame for Game Pass deals &#8211; ie. nothing was inked yet but the deals were in advanced discussions &#8211; everybody got the rug pulled out from under them.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think Game Pass is over given that the new incoming leadership have talked a lot about Game Pass,&#8221; Rizo added. &#8220;I think they&#8217;re on pause; I think they&#8217;re figuring it out &#8211; that&#8217;s my read anyway. For the time being, it seems like Game Pass deals: we just did one at Caboodle earlier in the year and I get the feeling that [we] might have been one of the last ones that did.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Xbox is currently being &#8220;reset&#8221; by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/today-marks-an-exciting-new-chapter-xbox-boss-phil-spencer-retiring-amid-major-leadership-shakeup-that-sees-microsofts-coreai-president-taking-over-roll\">new boss Asha Sharma, who took over in February<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/personas\/phil-spencer\">Phil Spencer<\/a> and Sarah Bond. One of her first big moves was to significantly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-drops-game-pass-prices-call-of-duty-exits-day-one\">discount Game Pass<\/a>, most notably dropping the Ultimate tier from \u00a323 a month to \u00a317 &#8211; the tradeoff being that Call of Duty would no longer be included from day one.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"injection_placeholder\" data-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p>\n<p>But Game Pass seems to remain a key part of the business. The Xbox Summer Showcase in June consistently reiterated the Game Pass availability of games being shown, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-console-exclusive-strategy-clockwork-revolution-gears-of-war-e-day\">as Xbox pivots back to exclusivity<\/a> being important, some strong Game Pass signings could present an alluring attraction.<\/p>\n<p>However, Xbox is also feeling the pressure to return to profitability after spending exorbitant amounts acquiring gaming studios &#8211; the biggest among them, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/microsoft-has-finally-bought-activision-blizzard\">Activision Blizzard, for an eye-melting $68.7bn<\/a>. Perhaps it&#8217;s too expensive to keep paying out for third-party Game Pass games; maybe it&#8217;s more cost effective to shrink the net and focus on access to homemade games instead.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile, most recently, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eurogamer.net\/xbox-major-price-increases\">Xbox substantially increased the price of its Xbox Series S\/X consoles<\/a>. The new prices will come into effect from 1st August.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"poll_wrapper\" data-fixed=\"true\" data-hashid data-init=\"false\" data-poll-position=\"1\"><\/span><\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Home News Helldivers 2 Xbox reportedly stops signing third-party Game Pass deals A blip or a bigger change? Image credit: Eurogamer News by Robert Purchese Associate Editor Published on June 29, 2026 18 comments Follow Helldivers 2 Microsoft might have hit pause on signing any more third-party Game Pass deals. Presumably it&#8217;s doing this while [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,253],"class_list":["post-2017201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-eurogamer-net"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2017201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2017201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2017201"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2017201"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2017201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}