Microsoft is set to discontinue the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit for the majority of its 238,000 employees, and the decision has left many of them dissatisfied. According to sources familiar with the situation, Microsoft recently began notifying its employees that as of January 2024, the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate perk will no longer be available to permanent employees outside of the Xbox/Microsoft Gaming division.

It’s worth noting that employees within the Xbox division will continue to enjoy this benefit, while the vast majority of Microsoft’s workforce will see it vanish next year. Instead, these employees will have the option to purchase a discounted 12-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription through the company’s internal store.

In response to this change, some Microsoft employees have taken to the company’s internal messaging platform to voice their objections. The discussions on this platform have even caught the attention of Xbox chief Phil Spencer, who expressed his lack of awareness about the changes and pledged to investigate the situation.

This decision to remove the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit for Microsoft employees comes on the heels of a recent price increase for the subscription service. Microsoft raised the monthly fee from $14.99 to $16.99, along with price hikes for the Xbox Series X console in most markets outside the US. Additionally, Microsoft introduced Xbox Game Pass Core in September as a replacement for Xbox Live Gold.

Interestingly, Xbox chief Phil Spencer had previously warned that the growth of Xbox Game Pass on consoles had slowed down, prompting Microsoft to shift its focus towards PC Game Pass in 2023. However, Microsoft has not provided updated Game Pass subscriber numbers for nearly two years. The last official figure, shared in January 2022, indicated that Xbox Game Pass had reached 25 million subscribers, despite the addition of notable titles like Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and numerous others to the games in 2023.