When someone tells you that complaining about losing something is useless, share this article with them. A few days ago, Microsoft announced that it would remove free access to Xbox Game Pass for most of its 238,000 employees. As you can imagine, this decision didn’t sit well with the workers, who would lose this company benefit in January 2024.
But Microsoft has not wanted to keep fueling internal strife and has reversed this decision, as reported by The Verge. And no wonder; after numerous complaints from employees, Xbox head Phil Spencer personally investigated the situation, which has ultimately ended well for the workers.
In Viva, the internal platform used by Microsoft, Phil Spencer confirmed that this decision would be reversed, and Microsoft employees would continue to enjoy Xbox Game Pass for free, just like before.
“After further consideration with the team, I just want to confirm that there will be no change in Game Pass availability in 2024,” Spencer communicated to the employees. “If you have access to Game Pass today, you will continue to have it. I appreciate your time to get you updated, and I apologize for the questions and confusion caused. And thank you for supporting Xbox.”
Since the launch of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft employees have had access to this subscription plan completely free of charge, as one of the company’s benefits. Before this, employees also enjoyed free access to other Xbox subscription services, such as Xbox Live Gold.
Given the circumstances, it’s likely that this measure was taken to cut expenses in preparation for quarterly reports, and not even Phil Spencer himself might have been aware of it. Be that as it may, this is yet another example of how any benefit or right that employees have can be taken away from us almost overnight, and we should always speak up whenever we can.
