Mobile Mavens: The verdict on Xbox Game Pass and Microsoft's games strategy

Microsoft’s games division has been struck with a wave of layoffs, game cancellations and a studio closure.

The impact has rippled through Xbox, King and Activision Blizzard, bringing an end to Warcraft Rumble, Perfect Dark and more.

In the wake of this news, we asked our Mobile Mavens for their thoughts on Microsoft’s games strategy, Xbox’s "play anywhere" path and whether or not a service like Game Pass is really fit for the games industry.

Oscar Clark

Chief Strategy Officer at Fundamentally Games

I'm going to repeat my usual mantra: subscription without upsell equals death. I love Game Pass as a consumer, but publishing a game on Xbox means you are either in Game Pass or nowhere. Ironically though, as a result I'm finding myself playing the same games over and over.

There was a time when titles had limited availability on Game Pass. They would be there for weeks and then leave, giving a sense of FOMO and a reason to purchase. Had that been combined with a significant discount, I feel that could have been super interesting.

Building an intrinsic model which positively framed DLC and free-to-play upgrade paths with meaningful added value for players would have made sense - this is there for a bunch of games but it doesn't feel consistent. For example, I spent way more on Fallout 76 that I should have, but I'd never have played it before it was in Game Pass.

For me it’s high time the console experience was separated from the devices, and with Xbox streaming that's pretty much happening. I just don't know if the current approach is economically viable.

I think with changes like the Digital Markets Act and the US ruling against Apple regarding off-platform retail, there is a huge opportunity for a significant brand to build a proper cross-platform experience with a retail offering that focuses on empowering developers to support their community longer term. Xbox has a brand I think could do that - but do they have the internal mindset to deliver?

Kelly Vero

CEO and CTO at NAK3D

I’m pretty sure we're watching the slow death of console gaming. We all saw it coming when E3 got cancelled.

Steam - that thing that we laughed at in 2003 and said would never catch on - seems to be the Lingua Franca for a new generation of gamers. We're social creatures and we like to move. This is a psychological death as much as the death of a device standard.

My grief lies not with the management consultants, execs and VPs who said this would be a good thing. My grief lies in the dearth of hearty development and good ideas that have been punched down by these behemoths. Maybe now the fight back can begin?

Jared Steffes

Co-founder at Muxy

Okay, so Microsoft's making some big moves in gaming, and it's not just about Xbox anymore. I believe the company sees an opportunity for the end of the "console wars" and to be the de facto content provider creating new "content wars".

At the heart of the console wars has always been access to content.

This is a massive company-wide shift, all thanks to snagging Activision Blizzard. Microsoft isn’t just after console wins; it wants the content that comes with a gigantic worldwide audience, especially the mobile crowd.

Microsoft's plan is to use those famous franchises, like Call of Duty, World of Warcraft and Candy Crush, to break into new markets and seriously expand its reach way beyond just PCs and consoles. It’s all about future-proofing the whole Microsoft ecosystem by meeting billions of users right where they are, on their phones and tablets, essentially turning Microsoft into this huge content and services hub. 

Users are becoming accustomed to paying for more monthly subscriptions if they continue to see value. The changes in prices for standalone content like Nintendo's Switch 2 first-party titles are pursuing will make parents see a different opportunity when it comes to spending money this holiday season. 

From the player feedback I've researched regarding subscription gaming content, the perceived value is probably ranked as:

1. FOMO: access to new, albeit time locked, exclusives or day-one launches.

2. Unintrusive: no ads (especially on mobile).

3. A price that motivates a user to pay up front for a discounted year.

At the core of this whole thing are Game Pass and the "play anywhere" idea. This strategy is a clear pivot from selling you a box to selling you access. By dropping all its first-party games, including Activision's hits, straight into Game Pass from day one, Microsoft's basically training a new generation of gamers to care more about the ecosystem than any one device.

"Play anywhere" is how that vision actually works - it’s about knocking down the walls between your console, PC and mobile, making sure your gaming life just flows seamlessly into the Microsoft cloud. This service-first approach is designed to rake in consistent, recurring revenue that isn't stuck relying on the up-and-down, super competitive console market.

This whole strategic re-jiggering is also Microsoft basically admitting something shareholders have been watching nervously: Windows isn't the king it used to be, especially with mobile operating systems eating away at its dominance.

Yeah, the PC market is still a huge business, but its time as the undisputed center of the tech universe is over. Investors are increasingly seeing Microsoft's future growth not in keeping its old OS monopoly alive, but in really killing it in high-margin areas like cloud computing with Azure and those sweet cross-platform services.

So, making Xbox this everywhere, platform-agnostic service? That's seen as a necessary and smart move, showing Microsoft is willing to shed a piece of its old identity to go after a much bigger prize in this new world of cloud-based, game-anywhere entertainment.

Maria Kochmola

Co-founder and Managing Partner at The Games Fund

Game Pass has been a bold bet, but it hasn’t met its targets. Despite years of investment and major studio acquisitions, the service has reached around 35 to 40 million subscribers in 2025 - well short of Microsoft’s internal goal of 100m by 2030.

The reasons are structural: most gamers don’t consume content the way TV audiences do. They stick to a few favourite titles, often playing the same game for months. That limits the appeal of an all-you-can-play model.

The most active players - previously Microsoft's most profitable segment - now subscribe and often stop buying full-price games. That cannibalises higher-margin software revenue and makes third-party publishers cautious about launching on Game Pass.

In emerging markets, where Microsoft hoped to scale, issues like pricing sensitivity, infrastructure and mobile-first behaviour created friction. Meanwhile, delays and uneven first-party output have made it hard to consistently showcase the value of the subscription. Game Pass drives engagement, but its model may need adjustment to better match player habits and business realities.

So, will Xbox stay in the console business long-term?

That’s becoming an open question. Xbox’s share of the global console market is expected to drop below 30% by the end of 2025. It’s a sign that the current strategy may not be resonating at scale. While Microsoft has made bold bets - on Game Pass, the $76 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and the dual-console strategy with Series X and Series S - not all of those investments have paid off as expected.

The exclusive content pipeline has been inconsistent, with delays, cancellations and underwhelming releases like Redfall, and the continued identity crisis around Halo. Meanwhile, supporting both Series X and the lower-spec Series S has created technical bottlenecks for developers, limiting the potential of next-gen titles and causing frustration within the development community.

At the same time, Microsoft’s broader corporate focus remains on cloud and AI, making it harder for Xbox to operate with the same single-minded focus as companies like Sony or Nintendo. That doesn’t mean Xbox will leave the console space entirely, but it may evolve its role over time, shifting from hardware-led to ecosystem-led.

The cross-platform vision behind Xbox is ambitious. Making Game Pass accessible across devices is a technical achievement, but that alone doesn’t guarantee meaningful engagement. Gamers don’t necessarily want console games on their phones; they want experiences that feel native to mobile - designed for shorter sessions, social interaction and intuitive controls.

For the cross-platform promise to truly resonate, Xbox needs to go beyond accessibility and invest in content and experiences that are built specifically for the mobile space. That said, the opportunity is there - mobile remains the largest gaming market globally.

Additional reporting by Aaron Astle.