Impressive amazing Sport Pass offering, plus a surprising reveal!
Moonlighter 2 absolutely captured my attention! Can’t wait for its release!
Did they just nonchalantly drop a AAA game DLC trailer into an indie showcase? Okay, fair enough, can’t complain as it’s Lies of P – huge excitement!
What can Microsoft do to enhance the visibility of Game Pass to increase subscriptions?
I feel it’s somewhat evident that it remains underexposed and is possibly unsustainable. The sheer volume of content available on the platform is undoubtedly a great value for users. Game Pass genuinely IS the “Netflix of Gaming,” yet they seem unable to convince enough people about this. And I’m not merely talking about console sales, but if “This is an Xbox” or “This is an Xbox,” then why isn’t there a noticeable rise in subscriptions?
Not bad at all. A bit light on RPGs. But that’s the way the cookie crumbles.
It’s tough; I often buy the titles I wish to support, which I did with Balatro. However, if I had held off, I could have played it on Game Pass! Meanwhile, I was hoping for Animal Well, and that didn’t happen
I hope many will enjoy Balatro here, as it could greatly benefit both the game, Game Pass, and more indie titles on the service.
@Cakefish Sounds fantastic in a report but “up 30% on PC” from what to what? As of the last update I saw, combined GP subscriptions across Xbox and PC were around 34 million. So does a 30% increase on PC bring it up to 35 million? 40 million?
That’s another challenge with Game Pass (and to some extent other subscription platforms). How many new customers simply grab a one-month subscription just to play Black Ops 6 during the busy release window or Indiana Jones to complete the story, and then don’t resubscribe the following month? Similar to how people do with Stranger Things on Netflix or The Mandalorian on Disney+, but those services have MUCH larger subscriber bases, so losing subs doesn’t impact them as severely.
@SleeplessKnight gamepass is extremely impractical. More than 1 billion each quarter in revenue.
“during Microsoft’s quarterly earnings call for Q3 2023, CEO Satya Nadella disclosed that Xbox subscriptions are now generating a staggering $1 billion per quarter. I’ve confirmed with sources that this indeed pertains to Xbox Game Pass, excluding references to Minecraft or Fallout 76 subscriptions.”
https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/is-xbox-game-pass-sustainable
I must say I did not expect such a vibrant indie showcase for Xbox. I was looking at the Xbox Wire recap and it just kept coming. I was beginning to wonder if I was stuck in an endless scroll. A wild Developer Direct in January followed by an impressive indie showcase with IGN in February. What an exciting start.
@SleeplessKnight Based on Microsoft’s comments regarding game sustainability, it is currently not unsustainable in its current state. They are legally obligated not to deceive shareholders about such matters and it became a significant aspect of the ABK FTC court case where Sony claimed it was unsustainable, while Microsoft countered. (I say this because I genuinely don’t understand the connection between a subscription service losing money and possibly losing significantly more if COD was included, to the broader context of the court case, and judging by her remarks, neither did the judge). What we’ve truly witnessed are price increases that align with inflation—similar to the increases PS Plus had experienced—and the addition of day-one titles to Game Pass being the most remarkable. For Game Pass standard, part of the adjustment was that it finally included core titles, which users had initially complained about. Personally, I dislike the mandatory bundling and price hikes. Nonetheless, the recent price increases largely reflect inflation and align with Xbox and the service’s expansion. When day one started, we were receiving about a few first-party games a year inconsistently across various sizes and qualities. There might be a year with Crackdown 3 and Gears, or a strong one with titles from Forza to Psychonauts to Halo, followed by a complete dud where the best we could get were some mediocre AA games. At its launch, Xbox had owned only about five studios. They possessed five first-party studios when they first promised day-one releases. Game Pass even predates all the acquisitions they made in 2018 and the formation of Xbox Game Studios in 2019. Now they’ve transformed into a colossal entity, with all their studios consistently delivering games. Game Pass had not expanded much since inclusions like cloud, EA Play, and coupled with the fewer game increases. I speculate down the road we will also see PC Game Pass not lose day-one games at least, which will likely indicate that they are reaching their subscription targets or the PC Game Pass is acquiring sufficient content.
@WildConcept6 Owning more studios and hence more game franchises also means that the expenses of development, marketing, and distribution now fall on YOU. If you’re not “selling” as many of these titles as required to break even or generate a profit, mainly because games are released essentially “free” day one for your subscription service, then the only other way to make it work is to grow your subscriber base. That is not currently happening, at least not at the pace they initially anticipated or hoped for.
@BacklogBrad Absolutely. I’m genuinely unsure why consumers are so anxious about the viability of Game Pass. If it truly were failing, Xbox wouldn’t keep investing in it. People need to realize that Xbox as a business generates 20 billion USD in gaming revenue annually, and prior to Zenimax and ABK, that figure was 15 billion. Their business strategy isn’t collapsing, and I’m not worried about a company of that magnitude accruing significantly more profits. I truly raise my eyebrows at the overall criticism directed at Xbox for not…making additional income or revealing the emblem is destined for failure when there is a 365-day decline over 365 days. I adore how they have already generated several billion more than the reigning Nintendo. In a certain way, can we even truly wish for them to continue growing? Adore, I’m not a Microsoft investor. My stake isn’t in Xbox earning billions more. I do hope they continue to release major games and invest in their platforms, but beyond that, I’m not particularly concerned about how much revenue the subscription service I’m a member of is pulling in, since I am already aware that Xbox could potentially support a few starving nations with the profits they make.
The primary issue is that Microsoft’s outrageous goals for subscribers are not feasible. It seems as if they overlooked how niche the console and PC gaming markets really are (or perhaps they didn’t, and I’ll explore that). What was it? More than a hundred million subscribers over a mere 10 years? Look, even Nintendo and Sony struggle to just sell over a hundred million in hardware (before the Switch, Nintendo only sold around 13 million WiiUs and maybe 80-something million 3DSes; the PS4 managed not even 120 million total sales after eight years). And Xbox consoles have never come close to hitting 100 million in sales. I believe they were merely deceived by the substantial increase in gaming like the entire industry experienced during COVID. While PC gaming is a significant advantage, it’s mainly dominated by Steam, and gamers aren’t even altering their habits for Xbox’s literally free games (at least not in the hundreds of millions). Xbox would need to guide people not just to use their platform but to invest in their ecosystem and become future customers, which requires time.
Ratatan is simply Patapon and I love that. Back in the days when I was a fan of Playstation
@SleeplessKnight You seem to have a very limited perspective on how Xbox Game Pass is suffering losses to the extent that you may be overlooking several individuals who are clearly stating otherwise, and you seem to be twisting and partially ignoring what I previously mentioned (I only referred to Xbox’s growth regarding the Game Pass’s pricing strategy and changes in tiers along with day-one releases). I will conclude with a reply to a previous comment I had already made, but aside from that, you may simply be an individual. Perhaps a gamer. As pointed out in another commentary, Xbox is earning in the billions. Around 20+ billion, and the Game Pass itself is generating a baseline of over one billion. That alone is more than most gaming publishers bring in. After a quick search, the revenue from Game Pass surpasses the annual earnings of Capcom and it’s not too far from several other notable publishers. Regardless of whether it is sustainable or not, as a consumer, why should it matter? Why would you want it to generate significantly more income? Enjoy it if you like it, and ignore it if you don’t. Encourage your friends and family to join in or don’t. Promote it on social media or don’t. Xbox will operate according to their financials, and perhaps everything may fall apart… and? We are not CEOs who earn bonuses based on GP subscriber numbers. If the service fails, that’s unfortunate, but there are alternatives. Options with cloud services (Luna, Nvidia, and even PS Plus) and subscription libraries (Luna, PS Plus, EA Play/Access, Ubisoft Plus, etc.), as well as those with day-one games (Ubisoft+, EA Access). We as consumers do not rely solely on the success of Xbox Game Pass as a subscription service. There are other options within the marketplace (many of which have improved thanks to Game Pass, as PS Now was initially $20 a month just for streaming PS3 and older games without any downloads or current PS4 titles while PS Plus was a separate additional fee). I cannot predict where Xbox Game Pass might be in a decade, but I can affirm that Xbox is backing it now, and they do not appear to be retracting that support or failing to invest in it. There isn’t a significant indication of it disappearing anytime soon. It is consistently generating more revenue than most people will ever see in their lifetime. Microsoft has also publicly stated to shareholders that it is profitable and sustainable (and if those claims are false, Microsoft could face serious legal consequences). That’s the reality. Accept it or not.
@SleeplessKnight (and here is my response to your earlier commentary that I had already made before I noticed yours in response to mine) Is it truly unreasonable to think that 30 to 40 million subscribers could exist when those individuals are paying at least $5 per month? More realistically, they may be paying upwards of $20 a month? Essentially, the most unsustainable aspect might be the users like myself who utilize Microsoft rewards and benefited from the initial conversion offers for three years at a discount. Additionally, a video game subscription operates quite differently. COD is a prime example. Most individuals don’t purchase it solely for the campaign. They buy it primarily for the multiplayer aspect, and they may not even stop playing the multiplayer until the next COD is released. Why would they cancel their subscription if they signed up for COD? I suspect there is a small subset who merely wanted to experience the campaign or give it a try – and that’s not inherently bad either as Xbox Game Pass started out free.trials leading up to this point suggest that those individuals may not collectively acquire COD at the high price upon launch – though they would still represent a minority. For the remaining users, Xbox has provided insights indicating that Game Pass players engage more with games (through Microtransactions), spend additional time gaming, and make more purchases for games on Xbox that aren’t included in the service. This indicates that Game Pass generates revenue for Xbox beyond just the subscription fee. That being said, there’s a clear strategy for significantly increasing the total number of subscribers that Microsoft has already committed to. Mobile, cloud, and an affordable ad-supported tier are key components of this strategy. Their objective seems to be reaching the billions worldwide who game on mobile and even more who own smartphones. They’ve expressed intentions to directly market mobile and cloud games through their own mobile storefront, as well as make game streaming available on this platform. However, they have been slow to enhance their cloud services, hampered by Apple and Google’s store policies (which would make it, ironically, unsustainable in terms of profit margins and other absurdities like Apple’s requirement for each game to have its own listing on the App Store). Based on rumors, I wouldn’t be surprised if Xbox soon tests a cloud-only Game Pass tier in beta (similar to what they did for PC) before fully launching XCloud (or whatever name they choose… please don’t let it be Xbox Cloud Gaming) out of beta, allowing users to acquire games, make in-game purchases, and play streaming games. We will likely see an entry-level tier for accessing the service, a budget-friendly ad-supported option or time-limited tier, and a premium tier that includes game streaming, followed by the ultimate option. Additionally, if courts eventually open up mobile operating systems like they have for PC, we might see Xbox introduce its own mobile store featuring mobile games alongside an Xbox Game Pass subscription. These games may also turn out to be of higher quality than one might expect. We’ve already seen titles like Hades, Assassin’s Creed, and Resident Evil on mobile. Mobile hardware is only going to improve. This provides a glimpse into how Game Pass can expand, and it’s evident that Xbox is deeply invested in this initiative and is sufficiently content with it to continue supporting it.
@SleeplessKnight 34 million was the last credible figure reported a year ago. I would wager it’s closer to 40 million now if they are experiencing such rapid growth on PC.
@WildConcept6 The reason someone might concern themselves with more than just being an Xbox enthusiast is the significant investments made in the Xbox platform. If Game Pass turns out to be impractical or unproductive, and if the executives at Microsoft decide to dismantle the Xbox division, especially the hardware segment, I believe someone who has invested in and built a vast digital library might want a way to access those games in the event that there is no next Xbox. Some may argue, “well just play them on PC.” I’m referring to console-exclusive gamers here. There isn’t nearly as much overlap between die-hard console gamers and the “PC Master Race” crowd as some might claim. Just look at the sales of Sony’s first-party titles on PC for proof of this. So, as a console-only gamer, what happens to my games if there is no Xbox console? Would Microsoft find a way to transfer your game licenses from Xbox to PlayStation or Nintendo?
So I think that’s what most individuals are curious about. Yes, some are outright Xbox fans who fully believe everything from Uncle Phil’s mouth, and their vested interests are simply about fervently supporting the brand. On the other hand, there are the “Sony Pony” types or Nintendo devotees who dislike Xbox and make it their mission to criticize or undermine Xbox at every opportunity they get. However, for the rest of the gamers out there, I believe they just want reassurance that they haven’t squandered thousands of dollars on something that may not endure.
The other major concern is that I personally do not want to see the Xbox hardware division undergo a fate similar to Sega’s because I do not wish for Sony to have complete, uncontested dominance over the high-end home console market.
@Cakefish Your estimates appear to be significantly off; if a 30% growth on PC led them to 40 million, that would suggest that PC had more subs than consoles ever had.
A 30% increase on PC would realistically be around 1 million more, I would estimate.