Geoff Keighley was present during the event and tweeted about Ball’s statements, in which he said that the service lost “millions of subscribers” when it happened. So if you need any proof that the decision did not sit well with a significant number of the service’s player base, there it is.

Well, it’s good that things have been rolled back since then, and that the brand seems to be well on track to earn back our good graces. There’s that Limited Edition Xbox Series X and Controller to celebrate two and a half decades for the brand, and rumors that Project Helix might be all set to duke it out with the PS6 on its image quality. Well, here’s to hoping that the brand’s darkest days are behind it, and that the latter Helix sets it on course for a bright future.

June 8th will see two more games joining the service – Solarpunk and Undisputed. While both will be available across PC, cloud and Xbox Series X/S, Undisputed will also be available on handhelds. Solarpunk will be available through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, while Undisputed will also be available for Game Pass Premium subscribers.

Persona 5 Royal will be coming to PC, console and cloud on June 9th for Game Pass Premium, Ultimate, and PC subscribers, followed by Beastro for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Cloud, and handheld on June 11th for Game Pass Ultimate and PC subscribers. The same day, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC will also get Frog Sqwad and the Game Preview version of STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions. Finally, Junkster will come to Ultimate and PC subscribers using Xbox Series X/S, PC, Handheld and cloud on June 16th.

Since it’s a part of Game Pass Ultimate, EA Play is also offering an Early Access Trial for its upcoming title, EA Sports UFC 6 for console players on June 12th.

June 15th will see a number of titles leaving the service – Jurassic World Evolution 2, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

While there are quite a few indie titles that are making their debut through Game Pass in this batch, the headliner for many will likely be System Era Softworks’ STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions. The title has been in development for quite some time now, and unlike the original Astroneer, will have an even larger focus on multiplayer gameplay.

October 2025 saw the studio showcasing the gameplay for STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions through a video that came in at almost 17 minutes in length. It also featured creative director Adam Bromell giving some insights into the title.

“With this game, I didn’t want to just make a sequel to Astroneer,” explained Bromell in the video. “This is not Astroneer 2. This is a game that really represents the kind of online sandbox games that I want System Era to be known for, so much so that it is a whole new genre, and it is a whole new title. That game is STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions.”

STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions has been described by the studio as being a “full-blown expedition game”, with its core gameplay emphasizing improvisation and co-operation with other players. The title revolves around players being recruits on an experimental space station – the ESS Starseeker – and setting off on timed missions on different alien worlds under the leadership of the Fronteer Force.

Along with PC and Xbox Series X/S, STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is also coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Unfortunately, the decision may have ultimately been cancelled due to objections from XBOX’s partners. According to Corden, Electronic Arts was the main culprit here, and that it “hated” the idea of a family plan for Game Pass. The plan itself would have given up to four users the ability to share a Game Pass subscription.

Corden has noted that the decision to cancel the family plan “wasn’t actually Microsoft’s fault.” He went on to say that, since EA’s presence on Game Pass has been the “bare minimum” on PC, and since it doesn’t release many games these days anyway, he wouldn’t mind seeing the company removed from the subscription service if it means getting things like a family plan.

“I was told EA, who is a long-term contractee within the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem, fully hated the idea,” wrote Corden. “It sucks because EA does the absolute bare minimum with its Game Pass involvement, refusing to put Xbox PC native versions with Play Anywhere or Xbox achievements out.”

“If the above is indeed true, I would like to see EA get kicked out of the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem in exchange for a revival of the Xbox Game Pass Family Plan, personally. EA barely releases games anymore anyway. EA shouldn’t be allowed to hold back Xbox customers, given how anemic its contributions have been.”

Interestingly, a family plan for Game Pass is among the top-5 most requested features that XBOX players have been asking for since the launch of the company’s new Player Voice feedback system. Other player requests include exclusive games, a renewed focus on backwards compatibility, fully free online multiplayer, and a separation of Achievements for base games and their DLCs.

A report from last month had indicated that the company is still trying some new things with the service, and is even toying with the idea of introducing a “pick your own plan” system that would give subscribers more options for the games and services they would actually want.

“A sort of ‘pick your own plan’ formula for Xbox Game Pass is on the cards, essentially, where users can effectively decide what packages of content they want to see as part of their plan,” wrote Corden last month. “Microsoft has leaked ‘Duet’ and ‘Triton’ codenames for Xbox Game Pass via its back-end APIs recently, suggesting that packages of services are in the plan’s future. Don’t want Xbox Cloud Gaming? Remove it and lower the price. No need for Fortnite Crew? Ditch it and add day one Xbox games. Perhaps you can roll in World of Warcraft or Minecraft Realms subscriptions instead, or even other benefits like Netflix, per rumors, or the long-awaited Xbox Game Pass Family Plan.”

While no details about Project Saluki have been revealed, Corden posits that it might start offering games through the subscription service that have been officially verified by China’s regulatory bodies. Along with this, keeping in line with the kinds of games that have seen success in the region, there is also expected to be a larger emphasis on in-game currencies and other forms of microtransactions.

As for the rest of the world, Xbox is also seemingly working on a new feature codenamed Positron. While details are scarce, there are indications that it might be Microsoft’s way to offer digital copies of games that players already own physical copies of. As the report notes, this could be a larger push for Xbox to go all-in on digital games only. Currently, the company only offers digital-only options through the Xbox Series S, with the larger and more powerful Xbox Series X still including a disc drive.

Xbox’s desire to go fully digital might come down to the fact that Microsoft isn’t part of the Blu-Ray consortium, and because of this, it has to pay licensing costs to make use of the technology for its disc drives. Sony, on the other hand, is a member of the consortium and is able to include Blu-Ray disc drives in its consoles without having to pay licensing costs.

Microsoft’s desire to lean more heavily into digital-only games might also come down to the fact that it has been focusing quite a bit of its effort on pushing Game Pass as one of its main consumer-facing services. This report, alongside the company’s other moves, might indicate that the next-generation console, Project Helix, might not offer any SKUs with disc drives at all, and the company will instead go all-in on digital. Interestingly, the company’s other major source of gaming income—gaming PCs—has seen disc drives essentially disappear over the last decade with the rise of Steam, with even modern PC cabinets lacking any room for an internal disc drive.

A recent report had indicated that Xbox has been exploring a number of new options for Game Pass. Among these is a “pick your own plan” option that would allow subscribers to opt out of services typically part of Game Pass that they might not use. This would include things like Minecraft Realms or Fortnite Crew. The idea would also open up new ways for the company to bundle its subscription costs, like including World of Warcraft play time as part of Game Pass, for instance.

Another rumored new plan for Game Pass involves a brand new tier that only includes first-party games published under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. Datamines have indicated that this would include titles like DOOM Eternal and Grounded, among many others.

The companies have also confirmed that, in the future, Game Pass subscribers will also get Discord Nitro benefits as part of the partnership. These benefits include 250 Discord Orbs every month, 1.2x extra Orbs when completing Quests, and automatically-applied Discord Shop discounts.

“For years, Xbox and Discord have worked together to make it easier to connect, chat, and play together across devices. From bringing Discord voice to Xbox consoles to enabling live streaming directly to your Discord friends, we’ve been focused on meeting players where they already are and making gaming more social along the way,” wrote Xbox in its announcement.

“We’re teaming up again as we continue to make Game Pass more flexible for players, bringing new benefits to both Xbox Game Pass and Discord communities.”

Interestingly, the idea of bundling Game Pass benefits with other subscription services is far from a new one. Back in March, Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters had spoken about his conversations with Xbox CEO Asha Sharma and how this could lead to a potential partnership between the two companies. While no official announcement has been made, Peters hinted that we could see Game Pass benefits bundled in with a Netflix subscription, and vice versa.

“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.”

In the meantime, rumors have also been going around of a potential new Game Pass subscription tier that would only include first-party games published under the Xbox Game Studios label. Dataminers had discovered references to this tier, codenamed Triton, along with a list of games that includes 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.

Sharma had also spoken about the value offered by Game Pass and how its price is too high. “Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox,” reads an internal memo penned by Sharma. “It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one. Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system, which will take time to test and learn around.”

More recent reports have also indicated that we might see a “Pick Your Own Plan” system coming to Game Pass subscriptions, giving users more options to opt in and out of benefits that they don’t use.

The story focuses on Makoto Daito (Yu Shirota), a half-American, half-Japanese boy who leaves San Francisco to get away from cruelty in 1915 and travels to his mother’s birthplace – Japan. However, he’s on a ship that belongs to the smuggler Orpheus (played by Snoop Dogg) and encounters Yu Shinjo (Dean Fujioka). Together, they leave the ship upon arriving in Japan, but their paths diverge greatly.

Makoto is more the brawn, while Yu is more calculating and seeks to reshape Japan. The former works as a sidekick to Orpheus and slowly earns his way up before reuniting with the latter years later in Minami, Osaka. Things progressively heat up with the Yakuza, the Italian Mafia and even the Japanese government as they seek to leave their mark on the world. Of course, many other notable cast members await, including Tori Kelly (who plays Suzy) and Ado.

Starting in Kokura, Fukuoka, with its debauchery and plethora of workers (not to mention minigames like cards and arm-wrestling), players will then venture to Kure, Hiroshima, known for its shipbuilding, heavy industry, and modern Japanese culture alongside a maze of waterways and numerous hills. Minami is steeped in foreign culture and offers shooting minigames and betting, while Atami, Shizuoka, is more refined with airports and whatnot.

Interestingly, it all culminates in Kamurocho, Shinjuku, where a “tremendous secret” is revealed. Potential tie-ins to the Tojo Clan? Time will tell, but for now, Stranger Than Heaven is shaping up into something very special.

Leenzee’s Souls-like action RPG, now owned by 505 Games’ parent company Digital Bros, is also available for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers starting today. It follows reports about the dissolution of the core development team and the firing of director/producer Xia Siyuan. Whether the franchise has a future or not, the new owners are wasting no time to ensure more people can play the original.

Mixtape, the next game from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven and Dinosaur, is available on May 7th for Ultimate and PC subscribers. The same tiers will also receive cozy exploration crafting title Outbound on May 11th, followed by Black Jacket and Call of the Elder Gods on May 12th.

Interestingly, Elite Dangerous is also coming to Ultimate and Premium on May 12th, and may be worth checking out for Starfield fans who want deeper space exploration. DOOM: The Dark Ages debuts for Premium on May 14th alongside, at long last, Subnautica 2 on Game Preview for Ultimate and PC subscribers.

Then on May 19th, clear your schedule because Forza Horizon 6 goes live on May 19th for Ultimate and PC subscribers. If you’re subscribed to either and purchase the Premium Upgrade, then you can get early access on May 15th.

Check out all the titles that will be leaving Game Pass on May 15th (and which you can purchase at a 20 percent discount):

• Galacticare (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Go Mecha Ball (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Planet of Lana (Cloud, Console, and PC)

While Xbox content and services revenue has gone down year-on-year by 5 percent, Microsoft has noted that the previous year was buoyed by strong first-party game releases. When it comes to Windows, Microsoft has reported revenue being down by 2 percent when compared to the previous year from its Windows OEM and Devices segment.

In its previous earnings report from back in January, Microsoft had revealed that its total gaming segment revenue shrank by 9 percent. The hardware segment was hit quite hard, with the company reporting a 32 percent decrease in sales. All in all, Microsoft had said at the time that Xbox had contributed to a 3 percent decline in overall revenue that was offset by other services.

The earnings report likely won’t include any initiative that Microsoft will have kicked off with its recent rebranding of the Microsoft Gaming division into Xbox, as well as the appointment of Asha Sharma as its CEO. Since taking over the leadership, Sharma, along with chief content officer Matt Booty, has continued to discuss how the Xbox platform will remain “open for more people to create.”

“I want to continue to make sure, as we build hardware, software, services, we’re spending just as much time on performance and play time as we are on making sure that we can innovate to offer more affordable devices and hardware and services,” said Sharma in a recent interview. “And so, look, there’s a reality to the market that we’re in, so there are no promises around what the price points are or anything like that. But I want to make sure that people around the world are able to play.”

Looking to the future, Sharma has also discussed the possibility of Microsoft’s next-generation console – Project Helix – being impacted by the ongoing global memory shortages.

“All of these things are an equation,” she said. “Memory costs will impact pricing, will impact availability. As we think about being where the world plays, we will take that into consideration. So we’re not ready to share a launch timeline right now. The world’s pretty dynamic. My number one focus, though, is to focus on what’s in our control, build a great console to play great games, including your PC games.”

To further bolster its gaming revenue, rumors from earlier this month have indicated that Microsoft is having internal discussions about the future of Xbox, which also involve a potential return of platform-exclusive games.

The recent announcement of Game Pass prices coming down might also help out the company’s revenues in time for its next earnings call. Along with this, since Call of Duty will stop coming to the service on day one of release, game sales might also play a major role by the end of the year.

As the duo describes it, “‘Microsoft Gaming’ describes our structure, but it does not describe our ambition. So, we are going back to where we started and changing our team’s name. We are Xbox. We are a high agency culture where wild and wonderful ideas thrive. Our job is not to smooth over our differences, but to connect everyone into something greater than any one studio or product.”

It’s all highly ambitious, especially the part about being a “challenger” and employing a “level of self-critique that should feel uncomfortable.” For now, the immediate priorities have been divided into hardware, content, experience and services.

That first point is most notable because Xbox wants to “lead in performance” with Project Helix, which is confirmed to play both console and PC games. However, it’s also interesting to note that “Stabilize Gen9 as a healthy and high-quality base” is a priority alongside building a “strong ecosystem that expands choice and reach.”

As for content, Xbox seeks to grow its “enduring portfolio of franchises” while evolving third-party partnerships. The expansion into China is interesting because it’s a market where PlayStation has made significant strides, courtesy of initiatives like the China Hero Project and hits like Black Myth: Wukong reportedly being timed exclusives.

As such, the focus on “emerging markets” and “mobile-first audiences” may not vibe with everyone, but at least those who enjoy live games can be assured of growth and “long-term stewardship.” It’s also looking into improving cloud play across TVs and “low-cost devices,” improving Game Pass, and making Xbox “the best place for developers and creators to build and grow.”

What about exclusivity and that ever-controversial topic of AI? Sharma and Booty said the division would “reevaluate our approach” as it learns more. So for those who think it’s too late to put the genie back in the bottle and keep Xbox titles exclusive to the platform, anything is possible.

This means that much of the franchise’s history still remains unplayable through Game Pass, going all the way back to even the very first Call of Duty game from 2003. According to PCGamer, a source from Activision has said that there are plans to bring more of the games over to the service some time this year. The exact timeline of when this will happen remains unknown.

It is worth noting that many of the older games in the Call of Duty franchise remain seminal even to this day. This includes entries like 2005’s Call of Duty 2, 2007’s Modern Warfare and its follow-ups from 2009 and 2011, and much of the Black Ops series, which started in 2010.

According to industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis, October 2025’s price hike for Game Pass subscription largely came down to the fact that Microsoft had projected quite a bit of lost revenue from bringing Call of Duty to the service on day one of release. Unfortunately, the necessary growth in subscriber numbers didn’t happen, which necessitated prices going up. “It meant Game Pass pricing had to be increased to offset some of the commercial implications of the approach, which had its own impact on retention of longer-term subscribers,” he explained.

In another post, Harding-Rolls has also noted that Call of Duty no longer coming to the subscription service on day one gives Microsoft to open the door for similar action with its other first-party releases. While first-party games on the service will remain “a core piece of the offer,” he wrote, “this opens the door to potential windowing of other new 1st-party releases,” allowing more games to generate higher revenue for a year before coming to the service.

Whether these older Call of Duty games that are reportedly coming to Game Pass will be available through the much-rumored “Triton” subscription tier, which only offers first-party games, also remains to be seen. The tier was discovered by dataminers finding references to its codename, as well as a list of games made by first-party studios, which included Halo Wars 2, Gears 5, and Fallout 4, among many others.

Another report, courtesy of Windows Central’s Jez Corden, has also implied that Microsoft might be having internal discussions about a “pick your own plan” style of subscription tier for Game Pass.

“A sort of ‘pick your own plan’ formula for Xbox Game Pass is on the cards, essentially, where users can effectively decide what packages of content they want to see as part of their plan,” writes Corden. There have also been reports about the Triton tier only offering Cloud Gaming capabilities with a time limit.