Is game pass still gaining subscribers?
- Thread starter MSduderino
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djjinx2
Member
Username checks out.
RetroGamingUK
Member
Same reason they stopped reporting hardware numbers, flatline
Gambit2483
Member
reinking
Gold Member
Loomy
Thinks Microaggressions are Real
What if I told you most people aren't going to LinkedIn and updating it every year?
I'm sure as this guy's starts looking again he might update it, but it is meaningless to potential employers if Gamepass is at 35 or 38 million right now.
The video game industry has a total addressable market in the hundreds of billions. Everyone is always in the customer acquisition phase.
Not saying they're growing or not, but since information is not made public we can only speculate on here and we do that once every other month already.
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Durin
Member
I don't think they've grown as much as they'd prefer, and it's their fault because while the service itself is good...everything around it isn't.
Playnite the PC app launcher gives me a better overall UI for the entire game pass catalog than Microsoft's own app does. Their entire store doesn't do a good job sorting content or letting you filter to find games to play on Game Pass, just some bad themed rows, the search has weak sorting options, and for all the data Microsoft loves to collect...they sure suck at doing recommendations based on what I play vs Steam.
I've had weird issues where updates seem to need to re-download the game, or with Age of Mythology fail on an update, and I had to re-download the whole game. On Steam I can just backup games I'm not actively playing to my NAS as a network drive, but Xbox App won't read it. Microsoft also shuts down studios like the guys who did Hi-Fi Rush, but then actually lets games like Redfall even see release.
Playnite the PC app launcher gives me a better overall UI for the entire game pass catalog than Microsoft's own app does. Their entire store doesn't do a good job sorting content or letting you filter to find games to play on Game Pass, just some bad themed rows, the search has weak sorting options, and for all the data Microsoft loves to collect...they sure suck at doing recommendations based on what I play vs Steam.
I've had weird issues where updates seem to need to re-download the game, or with Age of Mythology fail on an update, and I had to re-download the whole game. On Steam I can just backup games I'm not actively playing to my NAS as a network drive, but Xbox App won't read it. Microsoft also shuts down studios like the guys who did Hi-Fi Rush, but then actually lets games like Redfall even see release.
Lord Malachite
Member
Without some kind of major change to the industry that shifts momentum in the favor of Xbox and Gamepass, it's reached it's peak already.
The reasons for customers to subscribe to Gamepass have actually decreased now that Xbox makes its games available on Switch and PS5. There was a time when someone who primarily games on Switch or PS5 might have felt compelled to keep a Gamepass sub open with a PC or a Series in order to take advantage of games not available on their primary system of choice. That has now gone away, so if you are not someone who likes to rent your games on a sub and would rather purchase them on PC, PS5, or Switch, then Gamepass has lost some of its attraction.
That said, there are a significant amount of gamers who are happy with the subscription model and, at least at its current pricing structure, will likely continue to purchase the subscription.
So all in all, what we are seeing is the "maintenance weight" of Gamepass subscribers where the fluctuation is very negligible and it has captured the portion of the market that it is going to. Given we know that the goal is to have over 100 million subscribers by 2030, these numbers can't be healthy for its long-term.
For many gamers, Gamepass has been on a good deal. But no matter what Xbox PR might say, it can't be seen as success based on their targeted trajectory and how disastrously far off course they are from it for being mid-2025 and them not being able to move the needle any further in any meaningful way. Perhaps if they cut pricing on it significantly they'll see an uptick in subs, but at what cost will that be in the long-term?
The reasons for customers to subscribe to Gamepass have actually decreased now that Xbox makes its games available on Switch and PS5. There was a time when someone who primarily games on Switch or PS5 might have felt compelled to keep a Gamepass sub open with a PC or a Series in order to take advantage of games not available on their primary system of choice. That has now gone away, so if you are not someone who likes to rent your games on a sub and would rather purchase them on PC, PS5, or Switch, then Gamepass has lost some of its attraction.
That said, there are a significant amount of gamers who are happy with the subscription model and, at least at its current pricing structure, will likely continue to purchase the subscription.
So all in all, what we are seeing is the "maintenance weight" of Gamepass subscribers where the fluctuation is very negligible and it has captured the portion of the market that it is going to. Given we know that the goal is to have over 100 million subscribers by 2030, these numbers can't be healthy for its long-term.
For many gamers, Gamepass has been on a good deal. But no matter what Xbox PR might say, it can't be seen as success based on their targeted trajectory and how disastrously far off course they are from it for being mid-2025 and them not being able to move the needle any further in any meaningful way. Perhaps if they cut pricing on it significantly they'll see an uptick in subs, but at what cost will that be in the long-term?
Gojiira
Member
You answered it yourself right there. Subs were dogshit so to inflate the numbers they had to fold Xbox Live Gold into it. If they barely managed 1 million actual subs between 2024/2025 then yeah…Dogshit.
Theres zero discussion here, it hasnt made money, still isn't, evident by the fact they have to obfuscate their figures to make it look profitable.
Unknown Soldier
Member
The vast majority of Gamepass subs are on Xbox and Xbox is dying
So no of course it isn't gaining subs
So no of course it isn't gaining subs
Sooner
Member
Are you sarcastic or just stupid? I can't tell.
Hector Hall
Member
No grow whatsoever, stuck in the 30/35 million forever and only got there rebranding Gold. Of those, many people are taking the 1 dollar subs Games for Windows (soon Xbox PC) offers or subscribing and then doing a full refund.
Polygonal_Sprite
Gold Member
Don't they need like 70 million subscribers to make the acquisitions viable?
Radical_3d
Member
Is it me or they lost 2 million subscribers e en with that gold shenanigan?
I think it is but at a much slower pace than anticipated. They're going to try and get a boost with a new console but it remains to be seen if they convince anybody from outside the xbox fanbase to switch to it and gamepass. At the moment they're likely trying to cut costs to fund their hardware release otherwise their loses would pile up during launch.
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Touch fuzZy. get BizZay
Member
As with tv streaming, when the numbers are good, they tell you exactly what they are.
When they're not, they get tight lipped or give strange details about minutes spent/engagement.
When they're not, they get tight lipped or give strange details about minutes spent/engagement.
Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
Yep. And Satya Nadella untied his executive bonus with Game Pass growth - which tells us everything we need to know whether the service is growing or not and the kind of faith (or the lack thereof) the top leadership has in it.