Heisenberg007
Gold Journalism
So only 1 million subscribers in the last 15 months, despite adding Call of Duty, Indiana Jones, Avowed, and so many other games?
Xbox Game Pass has reached more than 35 million subscribers
Knucklepux
Member
I honestly think that they are regretting the Day One gamepass thing
But they can't backtrack it. They dug themselves into a hole. Hence the multi platform push and rising gamepass costs (of which we'll see probably the largest one this year by holiday)
The whole concept of games are $80… well SOME of them will be. And unless you're buying over 3 $80 games/year, Gamepass isn't a massive financial deal. It's not like every single game ever gets released on the service. Most people don't want to wait a year for it to hit the service.
The reality is that gamepass is loaded with older games and indie bloat. The average person doesn't care about that. So dropping $70 on Indiana Jones is no big deal to most. It's not like they're thinking "oh if I subscribe to Gamepass I'll get Indiana Jones AND a bunch of shit I don't care about"
This narrative that people on gaming forums represent the majority is so weird
Knucklepux
Member
Xcloud is not going to do anything. It's a great ancillary service but it isn't going to draw in new people. It just isn't.
If someone cares about gaming, they have a console or PC. You would literally be throwing resources to appeal to a fraction of a fraction of people.
Streaming isn't the future. It just can't be. The vast majority of the world and even a large portion of the US doesn't have internet speeds or access that would make it a viable alternative
xrnzaaas
Member
It's also incredibly expensive to support, because you have to be running and maintaining a ton of powerful machines. No wonder Nvidia started limiting monthly hours and that's despite having record profits (in general). So you're risking not only not owning anything, but also at some point being limited how much you can play.
Jigsaah
Gold Member
35 million X what...10 bucks a month on the low end? That's alot of money. Obviously this number goes up and down by the hour but if they are averaging this...
There's no way they are spending that much money on deals alone. There are other expenses...sure...but I pay 12 dollars a month on PC. Xbox folks are paying more. Then consider what happens when they put gamepass on basically everything...TVs, handhelds...minifridges...
Can somebody explain how this is not sustainable?
There's no way they are spending that much money on deals alone. There are other expenses...sure...but I pay 12 dollars a month on PC. Xbox folks are paying more. Then consider what happens when they put gamepass on basically everything...TVs, handhelds...minifridges...
Can somebody explain how this is not sustainable?
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MiguelItUp
Member
It's not rocket science, but so many people here just want them to fail I guess. Be it in defense of their preferred gigantic company or favorite plastic box, I really don't get it.
If Game Pass was absolutely not sustainable, they would've abandoned ship/reverted a long time ago. But instead they continue to lean into it and harder. With new games continuing to be day 1 releases on GP.
I get if GP isn't for you, or just not your thing. But it's an option for people to pay less to play some games they're interested in. I think it's just cool for people to have choices. In this day an age I'd much rather pay for a month of GP to play a game that launches on it rather than paying $80 for the same game that I will probably only play for a month or less any way.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
I pay every month for PC. I took about 3 or 4 months off at one point, but right now they constantly have games I am interested in. Finished Clair Obscur and was straight in to Doom.
The problem that MS have on PC, beyond steam just being really good, is that everyone can create a backlog of 100s of games including several AAA's for free.
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saintjules
Member
Yes and I'm all for GP.
It's a viable option if there's a game I want on there and if it's a 3rd party game that doesn't have bigger enhancements on PS5 Pro or it's not a PS game in general, then I'll play it there. More options are always better.
Setsuna Mudou
Member
StereoVsn
Gold Member
Yep, you have been "reached ". I also occasionally sub for a few $ to a month or 3 months (depending on what's the cheapest) and they counts.
This also includes anything from base yearly sub to console only to PC only to GPU. So basically there is no way to tell how much revenue MS is getting and Phil ain't telling.
jm89
Member
25 million gamepass
11 million gold
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bender
What time is it?
Thanks. Looks like 11.7 were Gold, so 35 million would be a decrease in their overall subscriber base.
Topher
Identifies as young
It has already proven to be sustainable by virtue of still being around after 7-8 years. Whether or not sales are being canibalized to the point that they would make more money with traditional sales is another question. I can't imagine topping out at 35 million is what they had in mind though. Not if they are going to include the entire ABK slate on it going forward.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
The goal was 100m.
Topher
Identifies as young
leizzra
Member
Deals, maintenance of servers, people that are working around GP, etc. And the most important thing - game development costs. Every studio that MS owns now (and there are a lot of them) are spending money each day. Money that you would normally earn by selling games. For some time it relied heavily on GP but it is not enough it seams (for MS management for sure) so they started porting games to other platforms.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Kvally
Member
Even more impressive, all the Play Anywhere titles.The number of new games they showed coming to the service at the showcase.
ProtoByte
Weeb Underling
For one, this conversation can only be had on these terms if you take it that this 35 million is the current number, a consistent number year round, and/or even totally accurate number.
Secondly, this includes for Gamepass Core subscribers that used to be classified as XBL subs. Thats how Microsoft even got to the last 34 million they officially stated.
Third, Microsoft's own leaked documents indicate that they are 50% behind where they think they should've been even before locking down Activision.
Fourth, if that doesn't convince you then their increasingly desperate action should. They're throwing everything at the wall. Universal porting; a handheld that isn't even closed in on the Xbox ecosystem; 80 dollar charges for COD all the way down to mediocrity like The Outer Worlds; and mounting price increases for their console (admittedly amid tariff shit, but it's more complex than just that) and Gamepass itself.
Fifth, common sense. The sheer number of "first party" titles they've released to low sales, mediocre fanfare and no subscription growth is a bad portent for the future when things aren't as high speed. When the bill comes due for Fable, E-Day, Perfect Dark and the next Halo, for which exorbitant amounts of time and money have gone into making, the major studios would've blown their loads and not done it particularly well. What happens then? What happens if/when there's a major slip up on COD?
Furthermore, they're completely flipping the third party structure on its head. Every time a game goes to Gamepass, Microsoft are paying developers instead of making 30% when those developers sell the game on Xbox. Especially with PC Gamepass, the opportunity cost of slapping your title on there is even higher. This is especially true once a majority of AAAs are 80 bucks. Over time, the cost of getting these third party titles only goes up.
And that goes into what the plan for next gen is: All of these moves are chipping away at the Xbox brand, and an Xbox branded PC in place of an actual next gen console will be the final nail in the coffin from so many angles, it's difficult to justify going on with this post.
Other than that, I'll point out that my analysis of their numbers last quarter indicate a churn of subs rather than growth; and that the lack of enthusiasm for their showcase, where they usually get glazed, is a bad sign.
jm89
Member
Kvally
Member
Laptop1991
Member
The Outer Worlds 2 is the 1st game that might tempt me to join Gamepass for a month just to play it cheaply, as it's not a game i would mod, and i'm not paying 80 quid either, then i would unsubscribe and wait for the game to be really cheap or given away for free by Amazon or Epic, so i would be counted in these numbers, but is that really growth, i could probably get a free month as well as i would be a new subscriber to get on the service but i wouldn't stay on it.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
I mean their recent multi-platform push directly contradicts that 2027 article, but ok I guess.
Gaming as we know it will be dead in the next 2 years.
Gaming as we know it will be dead in the next 2 years.
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Mr Moose
Member
Phil lying to the FTC/judge.I mean their recent multi-platform push directly contradicts that 2027 article, but ok I guess.
Gaming as we know it will be dead in the next 2 years.
Kvally
Member
That has what to do with my Play Anywhere comment?He didn't write the article based on MS's internal projections and slides.
DeepEnigma
Gold Member
It shows they realized that they weren't going to hit the 2027 internal goals and needed to change course.
He's replying toThat has what to do with my Play Anywhere comment?
ChorizoPicozo
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poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
How was he lying? They didn't even wait until 2025 before changing their strategy and making most of their first party games multiplat.
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
True. The brand and all their services are just too big at this point to end in two years.
Kvally
Member
And now they just keep growing it.
jm89
Member
Anything is possible with phil in charge
