What happens to Xbox Game Pass after Phil Spencer retires?

Phil Spencer announced his retirement, closing a 25-year run at Xbox and nearly 40 years at Microsoft. His tenure included many studio acquisitions and closures, but few moves reshaped the business as much as Xbox Game Pass. Spencer launched Game Pass in 2017 as a “Netflix for gaming”: a monthly subscription that let users download and play titles so long as their membership remained active.

By 2018, Xbox began putting first-party releases into the service on day one, with launch-day availability for games such as Forza Horizon 4, Sea of Thieves and State of Decay 2. The lineup grew to include both big third-party tentpoles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and smaller favorites like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, and Microsoft added PC and higher-tier options over time.

That generosity has since been tempered by repeated restructures and price hikes.

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