All articles tagged with #third party deals
A veteran industry executive claims Microsoft is pausing negotiations for new third-party Game Pass deals while it reassesses its gaming strategy, with broader restructuring and upcoming financial results expected to reveal more, though the claims are secondhand and unverified.
Rumor: Microsoft is pausing new third-party Game Pass deals as part of a broader Xbox reset led by Asha Sharma, suggesting Game Pass may no longer be the North Star of Xbox strategy; the pause could impact smaller developers relying on such deals, while analysts hint the service might shift toward complementing full-game sales rather than leading Xbox’s strategy.
Xbox reportedly paused signing any new third-party Game Pass deals while undergoing a leadership reset under new CEO Asha Sharma. Word from industry sources suggests deals in advanced talks were scrapped as the company assesses its approach; Game Pass pricing has already been adjusted and the service remains central, but profitability pressures from big acquisitions and a recent Series S/X price hike are prompting a tighter strategy rather than an end to Game Pass.
A reported, but unconfirmed, insider claim says Microsoft has frozen new third‑party deals for Xbox Game Pass and begun a broad reorganization, signaling a shift away from aggressive growth and likely resulting in fewer day‑one and third‑party titles; officials have not confirmed the changes, and details may still change.
After suffering a legal setback, the NCAA has decided to pause investigations into third-party involvement in name, image, and likeness (NIL) compensation deals with Division I athletes. This decision follows a federal judge's preliminary injunction in an antitrust lawsuit challenging NCAA rules against recruiting inducements. While the NCAA will continue to enforce specific policies related to NIL compensation, the move reflects the ongoing struggle to navigate the rapidly changing landscape of college athletics and athlete compensation.
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer says he has no interest in using Sony's own exclusivity practices against PlayStation, even on a post-merger basis. Microsoft doesn't expect its Xbox console segment to grow as a result of the $68.7 billion Microsoft-Activision merger, and Spencer confirmed that Microsoft has to pay a lot more to secure any kind of third-party exclusivity deals. While Microsoft has made first-party games exclusive to Xbox, existing games that had released on PlayStation had stayed on PlayStation.