Xbox is under fire yet again. It’s teasing layoffs as part of a “reset”, reportedly closing Double Fine, Ninja Theory, and more, and it can’t present a coherent plan—all just days after unveiling upcoming games at its Xbox Games Showcase.
Rightfully, Xbox has been criticised by industry figures in response, including a former PlayStation exec. Now, Moon Studios CEO and Ori creator Thomas Mahler has taken to X (spotted by VGC), damning Xbox Game Pass.
I mean, the Gamepass strategy could’ve worked if people would’ve shown up for it. Problem is: They didn’t and the software catalogue was just nowhere near good enough to make people happily pay the subscription every month.It’s the same as with streaming in the film business:…June 18, 2026
“The Game Pass strategy could’ve worked if people would’ve shown up for it,” Mahler claims, suggesting that the service’s offerings (particularly new, exclusive games) weren’t enough to keep people paying every month.
“You need those games your studios are producing to become smash hits, cultural events that everyone wants to play—but what was the big Xbox game in recent years that was just delightfully good? That game doesn’t exist.
Almost every single first-party studio in recent years has been floundering. You’d want Bethesda to create a ‘Skyrim in Space’ that ought to be better than Skyrim was cause that was an old game: But we got Starfield instead…[Xbox] need to have good deals with devs so developers are actively incentivized to produce massive hits, not just slop out mediocre content like a factory.”
Mahler adds that Game Pass is “a little like Communism,” in that if you don’t give people an incentive to pitch in and subscribe, then the whole system “comes crashing down”. When Xbox raised the price of Game Pass last year, it lost “millions” of subscribers, according to Matthew Ball, games industry analyst and newly-installed Xbox chief strategy officer.
It’s worth noting that while Xbox’s first-party lineup has struggled arguably since the launch of the Xbox One in November 2013 (ouch), Game Pass has served up some third-party hits. In fact, three of last year’s game of the year nominees—Expedition 33, Hades 2, and Hollow Knight: Silksong—were available on the service day one. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 joined a while later, too.
The issue is that these games are available elsewhere, so they’re not solid incentives for players to sign up for an expensive subscription. Forza Horizon 6 is the first big exclusive game for Xbox in a long time, breaking the records set by its predecessor. But one (timed) exclusive isn’t going to move the needle to the degree the company demands.
