The reported overhaul fits a busy stretch for Xbox under CEO Asha Sharma, who took over in February and has since overseen layoffs, studio sales and product tweaks as the division tries to become a viable business. Shortly after she took charge, Xbox cut the price of Game Pass Ultimate, its most expensive tier, following a price hike in 2025. The current line-up runs from Essential at $10 a month with a library of over 50 games, up to Ultimate at $23 a month with more than 500 games, day-one releases and bundled subscriptions including EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics.

The idea is not entirely new. In April, Windows Central reported that Xbox hoped to offer a version of Game Pass where users could effectively decide what packages of content they wanted in their plan, for example dropping bundled extras like Fortnite Crew to lower the price. What changed is that Fortune's October profile of Sharma made the plan sound concrete rather than aspirational. A report from TechPowerUp in October 2026, drawing on the same Fortune piece, suggested the existing tiers may disappear when the new system arrives, and warned that a fully loaded à la carte subscription could ultimately cost more than today's packages, even if the entry level gets cheaper.

Xbox has already been loosening the boundaries of the service, previewing a way for even non-subscribers to pay to stream games. Optional separate payments would not necessarily make things simpler for Xbox owners, but they would give people more control over what they pay for at a time when the cost of games and consoles keeps climbing.