Even More Ex-Xbox Executives Speak Out About ‘Tension’ of Game Pass

Update [Sunday 7th September 2025, 12:00 BST]: Shannon Loftis, erstwhile head of first-party outfit World’s Edge and VP of Xbox Game Studios, has entered the fray regarding Game Pass.

Following former Bethesda supremo Pete Hines’ remarks, she echoed the sentiment on LinkedIn:

“Having spent years as a first-party Xbox developer, I can confirm Pete’s spot-on. While Game Pass occasionally rescues titles that might otherwise vanish without trace (Human Fall Flat), most uptake inside the service cannibalises boxed-sales cash—unless the project is built from day one around post-launch monetisation. I could (and might one day) fill pages on the bizarre internal strains this spawns.”

Loftis clearly has volumes to spill, and now several ex-Microsoft veterans are chanting the same chorus.

Original Report: Few are better qualified to dissect the ripple effects of Xbox Game Pass than former Bethesda chief Pete Hines, who departed the label in 2023.

Across a triumphant 24-year tenure he witnessed, up close, the fallout from Microsoft’s buy-out.

While conceding he’s been away from the coalface for a spell, he recalled spotting “short-term thinking years back” that “appears to be playing out exactly as I feared”.

Here is his full remark to DBLTAP, pulled from a broader chat that also covers PREY, The Elder Scrolls, and more:

“I’m no longer inside any of these firms, so I won’t pretend every detail I once knew still rings true. That said, I stay plugged in enough to see that the near-sighted calls I noticed years ago are unfolding just as I predicted.

Subscriptions have practically become a curse word, haven’t they? Purchasing outright is fading. When a membership depends on content, yet you fail to square the demands of the platform—and those who run it—with the creators who supply the very experience that gives the plan value, you’re courting disaster.

You have to properly respect, pay and acknowledge what it costs to craft that content. Otherwise you’re asking teams to slot into an ecosystem that undervalues their labour, and the resulting strain is harming plenty of folks, developers included.”

Ex-Sony executive Shawn Layden recently voiced comparable misgivings, claiming Game Pass risks turning studios into “wage slaves”. He swiftly amplified Hines’ remarks online, noting “Pete’s quote hits the nail on the head”.

Amid the debate, Microsoft has steadfastly claimed the service is in the black. Prices have climbed and tiers shifted over the years, yet the firm keeps actual profit figures opaque.

PlayStation, for its part, has repeatedly stated it views the Game Pass template as unsustainable. Early this cycle Sony faced heavy pressure to mimic the approach.

It eventually rolled out several PS Plus tiers that deliver a rotating library, occasionally including day-one launches, but it has resisted dumping its premium titles into the roster at launch.

Nationwide subscription spending in the US has ticked up of late, though it stayed flat for years prior, even as fees rose.

All told, while Xbox Game Pass unquestionably offers solid bang for buck, it’s probably not the destiny of gaming many prophesied when the generation began.