Xbox has been through another difficult period after a fresh round of layoffs, and Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown, now CEO and Creative Director at Maverick Games, believes many of those problems can be traced back to Game Pass falling short of Microsoft’s expectations.
Speaking on the MinnMax podcast, Brown said Game Pass was built with players in mind and called it a genuinely good idea. The goal was to offer an affordable subscription that gave people access to a wide range of games while helping fund new projects and support more studios. However, he said the plan ultimately failed because it never reached the number of subscribers Microsoft needed.
He explained that Microsoft spent a “fortune” on acquisitions, game development, and studio operations, with the goal of bringing new games to Game Pass on a regular basis. However, the business model became difficult to sustain because it didn’t reach its subscriber targets. Brown said the result has been studio closures, teams being split apart, and thousands of developers losing their jobs as Xbox continues its major restructuring under new CEO Asha Sharma.
He also pushed back against criticism aimed at former Xbox president Sarah Bond, saying many people attacking her online have no idea how she actually works, and he praised her leadership. He said, “Obviously… the people on Twitter that are going after Sarah, they don’t know her. They don’t know what she does. They don’t know what she does on a day-to-day. They don’t see how she operates in that business.”
Nonetheless, while Brown admitted that Game Pass did not deliver the results Microsoft hoped for, that does not make Xbox Game Pass a complete failure. However, it does show that the service failed to meet Microsoft’s original financial and growth expectations as a sustainable, standalone business. Speaking of Game Pass, Xbox has reportedly stopped signing new third-party games for Game Pass, with several developers saying negotiations have been put on hold.
