Xbox's ongoing struggles continue, as it has now been reported that the company has been pulling deals with third-party studios that would have seen their games appear on Xbox Game Pass.
This report comes in the wake of apparent studio closures, mass lay-offs, and a series of price increases.
Asha Sharma's tenure as Xbox CEO began so brightly earlier this year. Following the departure of Phil Spencer and some of his key team, Sharma hit all the right notes with Xbox fans. She promised the return to Xbox exclusivity, the removal of the AI assistant co-pilot, and even revealed the codename for Microsoft's next console: Project Helix. Then the cracks started to appear.
Over the last few weeks, Sharma has admitted that Xbox "isn't healthy", and we've seen the repercussions of that. Compulsion Games, creators of the award-winning South of Midnight, was rumored to be closing, and lay-offs followed soon after, and Compulsion wasn't the only one in the firing line.
Bethesda, ID Software, and BioWare were reported to be caught in the "Massive Bloodbath," as were Ninja Theory and Double Fine. The price increases soon followed. Last week, Xbox saw its fourth price increase...
