New Report Shows How Hard Xbox Boss Phil Spencer Pushed For Game Pass

One of Microsoft’s biggest success stories in recent years has been Xbox Game Pass, which gives subscribers access to a growing catalog of games as part of a monthly membership. The program even includes new first-party releases, including Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 in 2021.

The service is thriving now with 25 million members and big games releasing for it seemingly all the time. But Game Pass wasn’t always seen as such a good idea inside Microsoft, it seems.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Spencer was a key player in making Game Pass happen–even when some of his staff presented potential issues. Richard Irving, who spent 12 years at Xbox before leaving in 2016, said Spencer would hear from staff in meetings about why Game Pass wouldn’t work, including a lack of excitement from publishers to join in or how the service might negatively impact profits.