While Game Pass offers three distinct tiers of subscriptions depending on how much a user wants to pay, Microsoft may have a fourth tier planned for the future. As caught by dataminer Redphx, this new tier of Game Pass has been referred to in project files as Triton. As for what it will offer, it looks to be a lower-priced tier, with the included games having been developed by teams under the Xbox Game Studios banner.
These include DOOM 64, Psychonauts, Retro Classics, DOOM Eternal, Dishonored 2, Fable Anniversary, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Gears 5, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Hellblade, Ori and the Blind Forest, State of Decay 2, and The Elder Scrolls Online. The lack of any third-party titles indicates that Triton could be a much more focused Game Pass tier aimed at those who only want access to Microsoft’s first-party offerings.
It is worth noting that Microsoft has yet to make any official announcement of this tier. However, a recent report that new Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma wants to make Game Pass “more enticing to a broader range of customers,” lends some credence to it being in the works, especially if the company wants to “offer lower-priced tiers.” The report also indicated that Sharma had been communicating with Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters about a potential partnership that would bundle the two companies’ subscriptions together.
“You would have to do it in a way that works for the consumer and works for both companies, and frankly, I think Microsoft’s still trying to figure out how to make the Game Pass bundle work for Microsoft,” said Peters. “But what I like about Asha’s thinking is, it’s all about, ‘How do we do more?’ And it’s already been exciting to watch.”
Microsoft had first introduced its tiered subscriptions for Game Pass back in October 2025, with Game Pass Ultimate being the most expensive tier at $30 per month. The slightly cheaper Premium tier is now $15, while Game Pass Essential costs $10.
At the time, the decision to raise the prices of Game Pass subscriptions was criticized by many, including Laura Fryer, one of the original co-founders of Microsoft Game Studios. She called the price hikes “greed over gaming”.
“I’m not sure that their leadership understands what makes Xbox great,” she said. “I’m not sure that they’re listening to their fans. They keep doubling down on decisions that make it clear that they’ve been in a bubble, and all this feedback doesn’t seem to reach them any more.”
“Xbox didn’t reinvent [itself] by replacing the old engine with a better one,” she continued further in her video. “They just abandoned what they had and started chasing what they didn’t understand…With this last increase to Game Pass, Xbox threw away one of their last advantages: they were the best deal in gaming. These price hikes feel like a betrayal. Greed over gaming.”
