Xbox Game Pass Might Let Players Build Their Own Plan Soon
Xbox Game Pass may be heading into a very different era, and honestly, this one could matter a lot for Malaysian players who are tired of paying for features they barely touch.
According to a new report from Windows Central’s Jez Corden, Microsoft is reportedly looking at making Game Pass more customisable, where users can choose specific parts of the subscription instead of being locked into one big bundled plan. This comes right after Microsoft dropped the Game Pass Ultimate price from US$30 to US$23, while removing day-one Call of Duty releases from that tier.
For context, that drop is roughly from around RM140 to RM108 before local pricing, tax, and exchange-rate differences. Still not exactly cheap lah, but for players in Malaysia and SEA, any cut matters — especially when subscriptions are competing with Steam sales, mobile top-ups, gacha banners, PS Plus, Netflix, Spotify, and everything else fighting for monthly budget.
The big catch is Call of Duty. If you were subscribing mainly because new CoD games landed day one, this change hurts. But if you never cared about CoD, the lower price probably feels like a win. A lot of SEA players are more split across PC, mobile, and console anyway, so paying extra every month for one franchise you do not play is memang painful.
The rumoured system sounds like Microsoft may allow players to build a package around what they actually want. Don’t use Xbox Cloud Gaming? Remove it. Don’t care about Fortnite Crew? Drop it. Want day-one Xbox first-party games instead? Add that. Other possible bundles mentioned include EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics, Minecraft Realms, World of Warcraft-related perks, a possible Netflix tie-in, and the long-awaited Game Pass Family Plan.
There are also signs Microsoft has been preparing something like this. Recent backend API leaks reportedly referenced Game Pass codenames “Duet” and “Triton”, which suggest new bundles or package combinations could be in the works.
If done properly, this could be genuinely useful. Malaysian players do not all use Game Pass the same way. Some just want the big Xbox releases. Some want indie games and older catalogue titles. Some are parents sharing a console at home. Some use PC Game Pass more than Xbox hardware. Some want cloud gaming because they don’t own a powerful PC, while others have no reason to pay for streaming at all.
The danger, of course, is Microsoft turning flexibility into another pricing maze. Game Pass has already been through multiple price increases and confusing tier changes. The service used to feel like the easiest recommendation in gaming: pay one fee, get a big library, enjoy new Xbox games at launch. Then came the tier reshuffles, higher prices, and the expensive push to include Call of Duty. By 2025, Kotaku notes that Game Pass saw a massive 50 percent price hike, making the “best deal in gaming” feel a lot less magical.
The CoD situation also says a lot. Microsoft seems to have found that putting Call of Duty into Game Pass may have hurt full game sales without bringing in enough extra spending from battle passes, skins, and other add-ons. In other words, plenty of casual players may have tried CoD through the subscription, but not enough of them became the kind of high-spending users Microsoft wanted.
So now, under new Xbox chief Asha Sharma, the company appears to be reacting. A modular Game Pass could help rebuild trust if it gives players real savings and clear choices. But if Microsoft simply breaks Ultimate into smaller parts and charges more to reassemble the same thing, players will spot the nonsense instantly.
For Malaysia and SEA, the best version of this is simple: cheaper base access, optional add-ons, and no hidden trap. Let us pay for the games and services we actually use. If Microsoft nails that, Game Pass could start feeling like a smart deal again.
Source: Kotaku
