Gamepass subs increased from 18 million to 30 million from Jan 2021?

Status
Not open for further replies.
twilo99 said:
We will never know what the balance sheet on this whole project looks like. Just give up on that.

What we do know is that its a massive investment and Microsoft are finally spending some real money. My only question is there a time frame/expiration date for this push or is this just going to be their normal position towards gaming.



Its amazing to think that xbox has never been taken seriously and it somehow survived? Its upgraded to "central" now, let's just enjoy whatever that means.
Click to expand...


MS took Xbox serious MANY years ago. People that say otherwise are lying to you.
 
+12 million in 8 months?

Sounds impossible when it took like 4 years for the first 18 million. I get it that sub counts can shoot up when there's momentum, but +12M seems like a hell of a lot.
 
mckmas8808 said:
MS took Xbox serious MANY years ago. People that say otherwise are lying to you.
Click to expand...
They also seriously considered ditching the brand in the years before Satya became CEO. It's not a lie, it's well known they had key board members asking for receipts and wondering why MS was keeping it around.
 
Exanthus said:
I'm one of them!

Click to expand...


l0Fopje.gif
 
SlimySnake said:
Their internal studios are managed by a different budget. Gamepass operates on its own revenue. It's a separate service that does feature first party games but MS makes so few first party games nowadays, it's really not fair to put them under the same umbrella.

When they do come out like Horizon and Halo in October and November, Gamepass does not need to send those $180 million they have earned that month to any third party publisher. And while the oft delayed Halo might be a $200 million game, Forza Horizon isnt even close to $50 million.

GTA5 was a different time. it's when Xbox was the lead platform for many gamers and the sales were 50-50 if not higher on the 360. We can look at RDR2 which sold $725 million in three days and it was on Gamepass within a year when they had just a few million subscribers. 50 million subs per month is A LOT of money. It's how Disney+ and Netflix are able to give everyone and their mothers $200-400 million deals. When your yearly revenue is consistent and no longer relies on your big first party studios to deliver every few months, you can afford to hand out big wads of cash to third parties.
Click to expand...
It's managed by a different budget? outside the Xbox division? where did you hear that?

Microsoft makes few first-party titles? I don't understand what you mean, they just bought a ton of studios.

The problem for GTA under Game Pass is that it would eat way too much out of the PC purchases. It's also gonna come out in 2 years or so when Xbox Series and Game Pass are more popular. The sort of money Microsoft would need to throw at them would be absurd.
 
Feb 2017 to April 2020 = 38 months for 10M subs
April 2020 to Sept 2020 = 6 months for 15M subs (+5M)
Sept 2020 to Jan 2021 = 5 months for 18M subs (+3M)
Jan 2021 to April 2021 = 4 months for 21M subs (+3M)-unofficial Jez Corden numbers

Even if you were pessimistic and predicted 1M subs p/month in the 9 months from Jan 2021 you would get 27M subs today.
I'm not that pessimistic.
 
mckmas8808 said:
MS took Xbox serious MANY years ago. People that say otherwise are lying to you.
Click to expand...

It never really looked like it until recently, but I am sure they paid some attention to it, its just that it was never on the level of Office, or Windows... and now, it seems like its part of the main strategy along their other big projects.
 
reksveks said:
Xbox is central to their metaverse and creator economy play so I think it's a long term play. They want to have a number of minecrafts.
Click to expand...

Oh yes, its certainly long term play, I just don't know what happens if they aren't making any money for longer than they anticipate... in a sense, how long are they going to "float" this at a loss, and is breaking even enough to keep it going?

We just don't know. All these numbers floating around are meaningless at this point.
 


The last publicly released number was in January. News like this could affect the share price, so that's why they took it down.
 
ManaByte said:


The last publicly released number was in January. News like this could affect the share price, so that's why they took it down.
Click to expand...

Did Microsoft also request that they remove a load of other videos from TheGrill 2021 series that have nothing to do with Microsoft?

Just a quick search on Google Videos for 'thegrill 2021 yahoo' shows that several have disappeared, including many with cached dates of today.

GONE (as we know)

https://news.yahoo.com/thegrill-2021-streaming-platforms-panel-014449244.html
GONE

GONE

GONE

GONE

GONE

I could continue...

If they gave any shits about it they would not wait until 6 days after the interview to get it removed. They would have done something about it immediately after the interview. And it doesn't matter either. Also Phil did not give any misleading information and set the record straight. There is nothing remotely dodgy in the content of the video that would matter in any way whatsoever.
 
ManaByte said:


The last publicly released number was in January. News like this could affect the share price, so that's why they took it down.
Click to expand...

Wow, thanks Benji-Sales.. it might have been correct.. or NOT CORRECT!

I was really struggling to come up with those 2 possible reasons.

(heh sorry I like making fun of this guy he is so bland)
 
IntentionalPun said:
They also seriously considered ditching the brand in the years before Satya became CEO. It's not a lie, it's well known they had key board members asking for receipts and wondering why MS was keeping it around.
Click to expand...

That doesn't mean they didn't take Xbox seriously. The bolded shows that they wanted to make sure the Xbox brand could become profitable. Eventually MS made it a profitable brand, so it stuck around and it's doing well now.

twilo99 said:
It never really looked like it until recently, but I am sure they paid some attention to it, its just that it was never on the level of Office, or Windows... and now, it seems like its part of the main strategy along their other big projects.
Click to expand...

On the same level as Windows and Office, doesn't mean they weren't taking it serious. You don't spend billions of dollars back in the early 2000s as a joke.
 
mckmas8808 said:
That doesn't mean they didn't take Xbox seriously. The bolded shows that they wanted to make sure the Xbox brand could become profitable. Eventually MS made it a profitable brand, so it stuck around and it's doing well now.
Click to expand...

You are right, sorry.. Satya's tweet is accurate but saying they previously didn't take it seriously is not accurate.
 
HeisenbergFX4 said:
I think both models can succeed with Sony pumping out massive big budget single player exclusives and this current road that Gamepass is traveling down

Oh and Gamepass is far from a shitty sub service and if you feel that way then why bother coming into this thread?
Click to expand...

What makes Game Pass such a master stroke is it isn't even attempting to replace the existing models. It happily lives right alongside it, to provide that contrast, and that is exactly why it will continue to succeed. Game Pass succeeds more because of what it can be compared to. The alternative is spending a whole lot more money to get access to the kinds of big budget games that are apart of game pass, and will be added in the future, as well as all the incredible games that you can discover that you would have never tried if not for game pass.

But what really makes Game Pass more worthwhile is Microsoft's very impressive backwards compatibility support. Game Pass value would be lost on each and every successive console with each passing generation if not for Xbox's strong backwards compatibility. Really happy to see all the investments paying off.
 
SenjutsuSage said:
What makes Game Pass such a master stroke is it isn't even attempting to replace the existing models. It happily lives right alongside it, to provide that contrast, and that is exactly why it will continue to succeed. Game Pass succeeds more because of what it can be compared to. The alternative is spending a whole lot more money to get access to the kinds of big budget games that are apart of game pass, and will be added in the future, as well as all the incredible games that you can discover that you would have never tried if not for game pass.

But what really makes Game Pass more worthwhile is Microsoft's very impressive backwards compatibility support. Game Pass value would be lost on each and every successive console with each passing generation if not for Xbox's strong backwards compatibility. Really happy to see all the investments paying off.
Click to expand...
Yup.

And out of all gaming companies, it's good to see such great value from GP. The game industry is such a nickel and diming and opportunistic industry with everything from full priced games edging up to $70 to loot rolls, EA ultimate team cards, mtx out of every orifice. Not too many industries out there where they shotgun a million ways to make money off you hoping something works. And even worse, most people are trending to digital, so gamers dont even have access if the servers shut down if the game requires an internet connection.

So with so many gamers getting GP for dirt cheap or even at regular price, its a way MS is subsidizing a new strategy hoping it works. You never know, maybe it'll fail and they'll go back to just selling games for full price. But hey I got my money's worth out of $1. I'll let Microsoft's ivory tower accountants worry about the Xbox division eating into their $15 billion profit per quarter. And that profit already bakes in whatever costs MS eats with Xbox GP. I think they can spare a dime or two. And Nadella even promotes Xbox is firing on all cylinders. So for any naysayers, too bad. Xbox, GP and their 15 studios arent going anywhere.

I'm a gold subber anyway, so my 3 year top up of $1 is the best bargain ever outside of pirating songs off Napster for free 20 years ago queuing up songs all night.
 
Last edited:
StreetsofBeige said:
Yup.

And out of all gaming companies, it's good to see such great value from GP. The game industry is such a nickel and diming and opportunistic industry with everything from full priced games edging up to $70 to loot rolls, EA ultimate team cards, mtx out of every orifice. Not too many industries out there where they shotgun a million ways to make money off you hoping something works. And even worse, most people are trending to digital, so gamers dont even have access if the servers shut down if the game requires an internet connection.

So with so many gamers getting GP for dirt cheap or even at regular price, its a way MS is subsidizing a new strategy hoping it works. You never know, maybe it'll fail and they'll go back to just selling games for full price. But hey I got my money's worth out of $1. I'll let Microsoft's ivory tower accountants worry about the Xbox division eating into their $15 billion profit per quarter. And that profit already bakes in whatever costs MS eats with Xbox GP. I think they can spare a dime or two. And Nadella even promotes Xbox is firing on all cylinders. So for any naysayers, too bad. Xbox, GP and their 23 studios arent going anywhere.

I'm a gold subber anyway, so my 3 year top up of $1 is the best bargain ever outside of pirating songs off Napster for free 20 years ago queuing up songs all night.
Click to expand...
 
I know of a guy at work that has created like 6 accounts to take advantage of the free months and other offers. That number must be bloated AF.
 
Banjo64 said:
I'd expect Strauss to know. As mentioned though, it might be just below that figure or MS might be waiting for some reason to publicly announce this.

Really well deserved though. Only thing I can say to the sceptics is it reminds me of PS Plus during the PS3 years. Amazing service. The growth continues at a great rate.

Super Saiyan Soccer GIF
Click to expand...
microsoft GIF
 
Well its cheap.

The real question is, how long until Microsoft starts increase the price again?

Its good for consumer of course.

I personally would like to see the actual earnings/profits on gamepass alone, so far Microsoft has yet to shown any.

I mean...numbers of subscription doesnt speak much when its cheap. You can have 100m subs but each person pays less than 10 dollars averagely still doesnt seem alot.
 
Last edited:
Should be correct.
It has ridiculous high re-attachment rates.
Like a drug, get addicted due to the value.
Doesnt make sense to not get it if you have the mean of accessing the games.
Still, the current price (discounted) doesnt seem like they are profiting from it yet.

Xbox gold has higher sub count, and doesnt need to spend much to gain those subs.
Xbox pass games are burning money to get those games in it.
 
It's very clear from the context of that video that, while perhaps imprecise with the number, Zelnick clearly knew what he was talking about. He even said he and Phil had talked a lot about GamePass.
 
Dabaus said:
Havent we gotten exact percentage points of growth on services per quarterly report? Wouldnt someone be able to extrapolate increases at whatever they started with at the beginning of the year? I dont believe 30 million because personally Going from 18 million, to thirty with no major software drops and hardware less than 10 million sold in a year? That would assume game pass has a 100 percent attach rate per console sold which is impossible. There is no way this number is real.

Unless theyre including people who have subbed, dropped the sub, resubbed, etc. Zellnick has been critical of the gamepass model in the past, maybe this was more of slight at gamepass like "Youve at least reached 30 million, right phil wink wink."

And since the numbers arent close to 30 million all phil can do is say 18 million is the official number.
Click to expand...
This dude got banned with a quickness, good lord.
 
Everything comes with x amount of free time for GP, so its really hard to tell wth is going on. But, please all of you sub, because I have part of my retirement tied to MS stock for over 20 yrs and its not growing like I thought.
 
If they were at 30 million they would've said so by now. They wouldn't have been silent about it since last saying it was 18 million. People are really dumb. The Take Two guy was just assuming. It's maybe around 25 million at best. The story likely got taken down as they can't have shareholders assuming it's at 30 million when its not. You even have games media sites writing up stories saying it's at 30 million like it's a fact.
 
Last edited:
Topher said:
Apparently he doesn't if he is asking Phil Spencer what the publicly announced number is.



Except I'm not talking about some 11 random games. I certainly don't know which games are profitable and which are not. Neither do you. So making assumptions about what model is more profitable than another doesn't make much sense, does it?



Ah....that's right. Not a "big profit play". The point being we don't know what profit, if any, there is in Game Pass so why make baseless assumptions about whether one model is more profitable than another?
Click to expand...

All im trying to say is, is if games cost the same to make regardless if there on GP or retail its seems a lot harder to sell 11 retail games making $40 a pop and selling on average 8 million each. So even though we dont know the profit margins.

Once the subscriber count gets higher enough i cant see how a sub model cant be more profitable because unlike retail to increase sales they dont need to increase content out put e.g new subs will happen with even if the content output is the same as a few years ago, 10 first party games and 70 3rd party games a year is just going to be as appealing weather the sub base is 30 million or 60million.
 
Last edited:
DonF said:
I know of a guy at work that has created like 6 accounts to take advantage of the free months and other offers. That number must be bloated AF.
Click to expand...

This supposed "guy at work" works, but is apparently so strapped for cash he can't swing $10 or $15 per month?

Kevin Hart Ok GIF by NBA


6 different accounts you say. These stories are becoming more and more outlandish by the day. I'm totally sure there are about 5-12 million people with that much time to waste for something so cheap. The numbers keep growing. Only so long people can keep riding the "it's only $1" claim.
 
SenjutsuSage said:
This supposed "guy at work" works, but is apparently so strapped for cash he can't swing $10 or $15 per month?

Kevin Hart Ok GIF by NBA


6 different accounts you say. These stories are becoming more and more outlandish by the day. I'm totally sure there are about 5-12 million people with that much time to waste for something so cheap. The numbers keep growing. Only so long people can keep riding the "it's only $1" claim.
Click to expand...
Lol 😂 chasing these guy's rabbit hole is like taking the blue and red pill from the matrix while washing them down with acid and snorting Coke at the same time.
 
reksveks said:
I have a feeling that they are already breaking even, the operating costs don't make sense other wise
Click to expand...
They might even be making a small, not big, profit if subscribers are climbing quicker than anticipated.

Especially if they had a smart plan to scale.
 
IntentionalPun said:
Not really the right analogy because most of Gamepass are not Microsoft's games, as they are buying content.

Eventually they'll shift to having more of the service be their own games, but they still have to be buying a lot of content as well and we don't really know what those deals entail.

Not saying it isn't an attractive model, but I think it has to scale well above 30 million customers for it to truly make sense.
Click to expand...

3rd party moneyhatted exclusives are a thing though, like deathloop, tomb raider, ghostwire, stalker 2, final catastrophe etc etc.

Even the majority of sonys revenue comes from other things like ps+, dlc and microtransactions.

Its why I dont understand why sony dont include there first party day and date on ps now. They would make more money.
 
Last edited:
Good number, if true. I'd assume they'd want to announce this though, so I'm not sure they're at 30 yet. But I guess this could be a ballpark figure which would mean they're close.

In any case, Halo and Forza might be able to give it a big push this Christmas, we'll probably know if this is true or not early next year.
 
Once [if] they get the PC Xbox pass games to match the console version, I'll be all in. Or if they get the next version of MLB The Show up and running next year. But its cool that the subscriptions increased for them.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

[Linkedin] Senior Business Development Manager Made Game Pass Deals with Third Parties Ranging from $50k to $50 million
19
92
Mr Moose replied
Persona Series Sold 830k Copies Worldwide From January to March 2025, 3.6 Million Copies Since April 2024
Sales-Age 
18
486
Boss Mog replied
Elden Ring has shipped over 30 million copies worldwide
Sales-Age 
47
982
ntropy replied
  • Poll
Alright GAF, what 100 million selling system would you erase from history if you had to pick one?
Poll  2
77
1K
BlackTron replied
IO Interactive CEO: Hitman 2016 was a $100 million game. Hitman 2 was $60 million. Hitman 3 was $20 million.
Opinion Business Game Dev  2
55
685
EverydayBeast replied
Top Bottom