Have fun being replaced.

— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) October 13, 2023

Microsoft is removing the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit for most of its 238,000 employees and some aren't happy about it. Sources familiar with Microsoft's plans tell The Verge that the company started informing employees this week that in January 2024 the free Xbox Game Pass Ultimate benefit for permanent Microsoft employees will no longer be available.

I understand that Xbox employees will continue to keep the benefit, but the vast majority of Microsoft employees who aren't part of Xbox / Microsoft Gaming will see the benefit disappear next year. Microsoft employees will be able to purchase a discounted 12-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription at the company's internal store.

Some Microsoft employees have taken to the company's internal messaging platform to voice their objections about the benefit being removed. The employee posts even prompted Xbox chief Phil Spencer to respond, noting that he wasn't aware of the changes and is looking into the situation.

We've reached out to Microsoft to comment on the Game Pass removal, but the company didn't respond in time for publication.

The removal of the Microsoft employee benefit comes months after Xbox Game Pass saw a price hike for the first time. Microsoft moved Xbox Game Pass Ultimate from $14.99 per month to $16.99, alongside price increases for the Xbox Series X console in most markets outside the US. Microsoft also launched Xbox Game Pass Core in September to replace Xbox Live Gold.

Xbox chief Phil Spencer warned more than a year ago that Xbox Game Pass growth on console had slowed down, with Microsoft choosing to focus more on PC Game Pass throughout 2023. Microsoft hasn't provided updated Game Pass subscriber numbers for nearly two years now.

Microsoft said Xbox Game Pass had grown to 25 million subscribers in January 2022, but we haven't had an update since then --- even as Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and plenty of other games have contributed to Game Pass throughout 2023.

One of my all time fav clips of the BOY

!edgelords report in

(Sorry for the multiple pings rdrama is buggy as shit @Aevann pls let me put emojis in polls again )

im sorry for everything that ive done.
i caused vincents death around two hours ago . it was an accident . but now ill take this time to address everything ive done lately

— intruder:R (@IMIWAKANNEEY0) January 30, 2024

initial thread, images below

>the sentence in question:

suicide faker responds

but gets outed as a p-do and fellow incest lover

but don't worry, only one of them likes incest fantasies, the other was just manipulated

Lol, is the IFLScience watermark in the top a subtle troll?

We may never know.

So weird. I am not seeing how the US is bordered by the Red Sea. 🤔 https://t.co/b8969Ln33X pic.twitter.com/r6yUHIBuBq

— Lumpy Louise 🍎🥄🔑 The US are the Baddies (@LumpyLouish) December 3, 2023

The Red Sea is one of the world's most important shipping lanes because of the Suez Canal and almost every major power has a military base in the region

The best thing the U.S. does, which specifically benefits you and the rest of the world on a daily basis, is have a huge navy that protects shipping lanes so that cargo can travel safely

One of these days, there will no longer be a US Navy willing or capable to defend international trade, and I expect a lot of people will not be ready for how fast the world changes.

You'll be shocked to find out the first military conflict the U.S. was in occurred off the coast of North Africa because the U.S. was fed up with pirates raiding ships and didn't want to pay tributes to them

The Red Sea is one of the most trafficked shipping routes in the world. The Red Sea is how one gets to the Suez Canal. It's international waters.

Uh huh. Civilian ships are on it all the time. Why is our military there? We don't belong there.

"Why is our military there?" You ask in response to American trade being attacked

Anarchy on the seas is a great idea, Louise. Thanks for your suggestion.

there are plenty of navies right there. They neither want nor need us.

Many countries in the region do want and need the US naval presence there. The US, after all, can deploy far more firepower there than any other country.

You look like somebody on the DUI arrest video, not somebody whose opinion on foreign affairs matters.

Remarkable to see some of these people just now discovering how the world works. They think that the freedom they enjoy is just a given. They don't understand that people have to work to maintain their freedom and the goods and imports they enjoy every single day.

For being a global empire, Americans have an amazingly provincial mentality In fact, the average American citizen has no idea we even run an empire. They think the wealth is coming from Indianapolis or something

This is a website where people announce that they have object permanence issues when it comes to geopolitics

Drank way too much last night that I'm still actively buzzed. Got moved to a shitty motel that is somehow worse than the crap bunk bed I slept on last night. It's particularly annoying because I'm still reviewing all the patients EMR and the laptop I was given is shit and super laggy. I can't use my phone to access them because it's a temporary access that only lets me access EMRs and my schedule on the laptop. I had to access the hospitals main site on my phone to figure out who the paths and IR were.

!boozers

I don't know what to feel TBH. I hate him and hes joining the team I root for (and cry every year)

I have to support him???

NO I WILL NOT

I hope Chuck Legreg outshines him

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

!illuminati FIX THIS SOMEHOW

Plebbit freaking out https://old.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/1ag83xn/lewis_hamilton_to_join_ferrari_for_2025_formula_1?sort=controversial

https://old.reddit.com/r/sports/comments/1ag8ooc/lewis_hamilton_to_join_ferrari_for_the_2025?sort=controversial

r/formuladank is full on r-slurred mode rn