Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s flagship gaming subscription service, is once again under scrutiny after another veteran industry figure questioned its long-term impact on developers.

Last week, former Bethesda senior VP Pete Hines described services like Game Pass as “worth jack s***” if they fail to properly support the creators who provide content. His comments quickly gained traction across the industry.

On LinkedIn, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden agreed, stressing the real question is not whether the service is profitable for Microsoft, but whether it is “healthy and helpful for the developer.”

Now, former Xbox Game Studios VP Shannon Loftis, who spent nearly three decades at Microsoft before retiring in 2022, has echoed the concerns.

“As a longtime first-party Xbox developer, I can attest that Pete is correct,” Loftis wrote. “While Game Pass can claim a few victories with games that otherwise would have sunk beneath the waves (Human Fall Flat, for example), the majority of game adoption comes at the expense of retail revenue — unless the game is engineered from the ground up for post-release monetization. I could (and may someday) write pages on the weird inner tensions this creates.”

A recurring debate

The suggestion that Game Pass cannibalizes traditional game sales is not new. Microsoft admitted in 2023 that subscription growth could impact retail revenue, though it maintains that the service is profitable overall. In June, the company reported that Game Pass had hit a record $5 billion in annual revenue, boosted by high-profile launches like Oblivion Remastered, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Still, the chorus of dissent is growing. Earlier this summer, Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio branded Game Pass “unsustainable,” arguing it has been damaging the industry for a decade and is only viable because of Microsoft’s deep pockets.

And during last year’s high-profile FTC trial over Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, then-PlayStation chief Jim Ryan claimed publishers “unanimously” disliked Game Pass, calling it “value destructive.”

Microsoft’s stance

Xbox chief Phil Spencer has consistently pushed back, insisting Game Pass is not a cash-burning exercise but a “very sustainable” business that continues to grow. Microsoft points to its expanding library, day-one first-party releases, and subscriber milestones as evidence of success.

For now, Game Pass remains one of the most powerful forces in modern gaming — but the questions around who truly benefits from the model, and at what cost, show no signs of going away.