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Earlier today, a rumour was doing the rounds about Xbox Game Pass and the potential of third-party deals being frozen or ending entirely, but don't panic - it doesn't sound like there are any "blanket plans" to end funding permanently.
The rumour came from a podcast called The Business of Video Games, where former Raw Fury sales officer Fernando Rizo mentioned that he'd heard certain developers "who were in the frame for Game Pass deals" had "got the rug pulled out from under them", and that he believed the deals had been paused and were in the process of being figured out.
He later updated the folks at Eurogamer with a few more details:
"I definitely don't want to oversell what I know - not privy to any internal Microsoft conversations. But I had spoken to a number of devs that had Game Pass deals in various stages of negotiation who were told the deals were on hold. I don't personally think this is the death of Game Pass or anything, probably just a new CEO wanting to get her feet under her desk and everyone aligned on strategy before the Game Pass team starts cutting cheques again."
Windows Central's Jez Corden has been investigating this story as well today, and says a "trusted source" has told him that there are "no blanket plans to end funding for third-party games on Game Pass".
He acknowledges that some deals may have been frozen or have fallen through, however:
"No update from Microsoft, but a trusted source suggested to me that my analysis is correct. There are no blanket plans to end funding for third-party games on Game Pass. Any recent run of frozen discussions revolves around Microsoft's fiscal year ending and Xbox's "reset" plan."
So, with Rizo's update and the investigation from Windows Central, this doesn't sound as worrying as first feared. Corden even mentions that he expects Xbox to lean more into third-parties, although that's just speculation.
Perhaps we'll get further clarification on this in the coming days, in which case we'll update you with any key information. For now though, it sounds like funding will continue for third-parties, although who knows whether it'll be increased, decreased or remain the same after Xbox's 100-day "Reset" plan is over.