"While I applaud Microsoft’s multi-platform strategy, I think the Game Pass price hike was a misstep." Shuhei Yoshida—who served as president of PlayStation Studios and head of PlayStation Indies before retiring—shared his candid view on the controversial Xbox Game Pass price increase in an interview with “Skill Up” conducted on the 11th.

Recently, Xbox Game Pass raised its prices; if you want to subscribe to Ultimate now, you have to pay $30 (₩29,000) instead of $20. Laura Fryer, a co-founder of Xbox Game Studios, also criticized the move in strong terms, even using the word “betrayal.”

Yoshida said, “Xbox selling first-party games on PlayStation and doubling down on PC is a good strategy. Lately, Microsoft seems to have become the most influential publisher on the PS Store. I think these are strategic, sound choices.” At the same time, he added, “But I don’t understand raising the price of Game Pass when they’re investing so heavily in it and looking for scale. It feels like they’re charting a separate course.” In short, while he praised Xbox’s multi-platform policy, he called the Game Pass price hike a mistake.

In fact, after Microsoft announced the Game Pass price increase, a large segment of users began canceling their subscriptions, and that trend is still ongoing. Many in the industry—as well as consumers—are now watching closely to see how Microsoft will manage the fallout from the price hike going forward.

This article was translated from the original that appeared on INVEN.