Filip is a long-time player and writer with extensive experience in both of these industries. After starting his gaming adventure with the venerable PSX, Filip soon discovered dedicated gaming magazines, which set the stage for everything that came after. He studied linguistics and philosophy, which lends itself well to creative and technical writing, allowing Filip to stack bylines with a large number of publications.
Xbox may have paused its third-party Game Pass business amid its ongoing restructuring efforts, according to industry sources. The troubled gaming giant has struggled in recent years, leading to a slew of layoffs, a failed attempt to rebrand and other problems. In the midst of all this, Xbox Game Pass has remained structurally unaffected, although that too is subject to change.
Xbox adds new flexible game pass options
It looks like Microsoft's flagship game subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, could get more flexible options as soon as summer 2026.
While there were alleged plans for Microsoft to expand Xbox Game Pass earlier in 2026, the latest word is that the opposite may well happen instead. TheGamer reported on Arrowhead Studios CEO Shams Jorjani and Kaboodle Games Fernando Rizo's Business of Video Games Podcast, where the pair discussed First Playable, a recent trade show in Italy. In the podcast, Rizo said that “The word on the street is that a lot of people who were in on the Game Pass deals, ie, you know, nothing has been written yet but the deals were in advanced discussions, everybody had the rug pulled out from under them.” Xbox seems to have paused third-party Game Pass offerings, which is a strange turn of events to say the least.
