Will there be a low-cost tier for *Xbox Game Pass*? This time, it’s an even better deal.

I finally turned on the console on Saturday afternoon. I was planning to squeeze in a couple of games, but ended up first seeing a piece of news about subscriptions. For someone like me, who only has enough time to read the news on the subway during workdays and can really only play on weekends, I’m actually quite sensitive to this kind of tier adjustment. To put it plainly, what I care about most isn’t how flashy the features are, but not having to keep paying for things I’ll never use.

This latest development comes from blogger @redphx, who has long tracked backend updates at Microsoft. They recently mentioned two new codenames, “Triton” and “Duet,” which many believe could mean Xbox Game Pass is about to make some moves. According to the leak, “Triton” is very likely a new subscription tier, and its direction is pretty clear: a stronger focus on Xbox first-party studio titles.

That’s actually easy enough for ordinary players to understand. The current Core, Standard, and Ultimate tiers do cover a lot, but they also make one problem more obvious: you might only want to play Starfield or Halo, yet still end up paying for a whole bundle of content you never touch. It feels like ordering a deluxe combo meal—before you’ve even had more than a few bites of the main course, your budget has already been eaten up by a pile of sides.

According to the report’s speculation, this so-called first-party tier could eventually include major titles from Microsoft-acquired studios such as Bethesda and Double Fine. In other words, if you’re mainly interested in Microsoft’s own content to begin with, this kind of “more precise pricing” is genuinely appealing. Especially after last year’s price hike, quite a few players have already become less enthusiastic about Ultimate, feeling that it’s stuffed with too many services they don’t need. Even content like Fortnite crossover packs has started to feel like a cost they’re being forced to shoulder along with everything else.

That said, the other codename, “Duet,” sounds more like Microsoft experimenting with a new approach. redphx speculates that it may be related to recent in-depth talks between Xbox president Sarah Bond and Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters. Outside observers believe the two sides may be planning a new monthly bundle that combines the Xbox first-party game library with Netflix’s streaming service under a single subscription.

The idea sounds lively enough, but whether it’s worth it really depends on what kind of user you are. If you already subscribe to Netflix and regularly play Xbox first-party games, then bundling them together would naturally feel like splitting the cost of a membership and saving a bit where you can. But if all you want is to play Halo on weekends and you don’t watch shows the rest of the time, then it may just be another “gift package” that looks packed on paper but isn’t actually a good deal.

At the moment, the only thing that can really be confirmed is that under Sarah Bond’s leadership, Microsoft is indeed working on a round of reputation repair, including improvements to the achievement system and feature completion. However you look at it, improving features is a good thing—but for players, the core demand has never changed: pay only for the content they actually want to use. Rather than continuing to make subscriptions bigger and bigger, I actually think slicing prices and content into finer segments is what really gives people with limited time a fair chance.

From a value-for-money perspective, I support Xbox Game Pass launching a low-cost tier that includes only first-party AAA titles. It may not be the most comprehensive option, but it’s very likely the best fit for office workers—like turning an all-you-can-eat buffet into a smaller weekday evening set meal: just enough to satisfy, with nothing wasted. Now it just depends on whether Microsoft is really willing to give the power of choice back to players, instead of continuing to bundle a pile of unrelated services into one package that only looks “more worthwhile.”