Insider Leak Points to Major Game Pass Announcement Today, October 1

Heads up: Xbox watchers are bracing for something big today. A well-known leaker says Microsoft has a major Xbox Game Pass announcement lined up for October 1, and he swears it is good news. Given the recent tweaks to Microsoft Rewards and all the chatter about Game Pass profitability, this could go a few very different ways.

So what is supposedly happening today?

Spanish insider eXtas1s, who has a decent track record with Game Pass scoops, teased early this morning that Microsoft has an official reveal coming today. He says he has been sitting on it since a tip he got back on September 17 and doubled down that the announcement is actually positive.

'Yes, it is positive. Just a little longer.'

That is the line that kicked the speculation engine into overdrive.

The leading theories (and why people are buzzing)

• Xbox Cloud Gaming finally leaving beta: This one keeps coming up because the tech has lived in a permanent beta for years. If Microsoft is going to plant a flag, doing it now would make sense.
• A big third-party drop like Hogwarts Legacy: Dropping a recent, massive seller into Game Pass would qualify as a 'feel-good' announcement.
• World of Warcraft joining Game Pass: This is the wildest one, but it is not coming out of nowhere. Blizzard has a 'Midnight' expansion deep dive happening today, and folding one of PC gaming's biggest franchises into the Xbox ecosystem would be a statement. It would also be complicated, which is why people are split on whether this is realistic.
• A technical upgrade to cloud streaming: Less flashy than a marquee game, but still a meaningful step if Microsoft boosts performance or features.
• A business move (read: pricing or plan changes): The 'positive' promise has some fans nervous, because it could arrive alongside or be framed around another price shift or tier shuffle. Microsoft already raised console prices recently, and the timing would make this… delicate.

Why now feels loaded

Timing matters here. Microsoft just changed how Microsoft Rewards works: starting today, you can no longer directly redeem points for Game Pass subs. Instead, you have to convert points into Xbox gift cards and then use those to cover Game Pass. Wario64 flagged that change on September 30, and while it is not a huge headline on its own, it does add friction for anyone who used Rewards to offset their sub.

Put that next to current talk about Game Pass being profitable and the recent console price bump, and any big announcement today lands in a very specific context: Microsoft needs a win with subscribers, or at least something that feels like one.

The inside-baseball angle

World of Warcraft on Game Pass would be a monumental shift. It is not just another game joining the library; it would be one of the most enduring PC franchises stepping directly into the Xbox subscription world. That is the kind of integration people expected after the Activision Blizzard deal, but it is also messy to implement (subscriptions, expansions, regional pricing, all of it). If it happens, it is a line-in-the-sand moment. If it does not, expect the safer plays: a high-profile third-party get, or a cloud milestone.

Where I land

If the leak is right and today is truly 'positive,' the safest bet is a content win (a big game drop) or a clear technical upgrade (cloud out of beta). A pure pricing update being spun as positive would be a hard sell right now. Either way, the reveal is supposed to land today, so we will find out soon enough.

What are you betting on: a glossy new game, cloud graduating from beta, or a curveball partnership? I am rooting for actual good news, not 'good news, but…'