The question keeps coming up as to how heavily the Game Pass for Xbox and PC is actually used. Phil Spencer has now commented on the current figures in an interview.
Game Pass is one of Microsoft’s biggest arguments for the Xbox and the PC as a gaming platform. But how many players actually use it and is the concept worth it? Well, we can’t answer the second question, but Xbox boss Phil Spencer answered the first in an interview with the journalist Stephen Totilo expressed.
According to this, Microsoft’s service now includes 34 million paying subscribers. Since the last statement in January 2022, the number of subscriptions would have increased by nine million. “These are people,” Spencer emphasized, “fully paid subscribers.”
A not insignificant part of the growth came from the PC and cloud areas. “If there’s a fixed number of console gamers in the world,” he explained, “you can’t grow Game Pass forever by only offering it on consoles. So we’re seeing really significant growth on PC, which is great, and in the cloud.” The switch from Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Core last year is said not to have had a significant impact on the numbers.
Game Pass could see further growth in the coming months thanks to the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Diablo IV is scheduled to come to Game Pass on March 28, 2024 and further titles are being planned.
Microsoft is already looking for growth and a broader audience. In yesterday’s Xbox podcast it was announced that four previously Xbox-exclusive titles will soon be coming to other platforms. However, Microsoft is unlikely to refrain from bringing big blockbusters to its own platforms at least on a time-exclusive basis in order to boost console sales. Microsoft is also already working on a new Xbox with the powerful statement “the biggest technical leap you’ve ever seen in a hardware generation.”
This video summarizes the most important presentations from last night’s Xbox Developer Direct for you.
