In many ways, Xbox Game Pass is too good to be true. The vast catalogue of games, the Xbox Live Gold membership that’s tossed in for a good measure and it’s availability on both PC and consoles makes it one of the best subscription deals out there. With the amount of value consumers are getting out of the deal, it’s fairly obvious that Microsoft is making very little profit on the service, as Aaron Greenberg of Xbox Games Marketing admitted. Yet that’s only in the short-term, as the point of Game Pass is to win players over and persuade them to stick with Microsoft. It might be working; Game Pass has just recently hit 18 million monthly subscribing members.
Game Pass, which has been around since 2017 but only really hit its stride in 2019, has been growing consistently since it was first announced. To put in perspective the kind of growth we’re talking about here, in April of 2020 Game Pass had 10 million subscribers which means in that just under a year it’s almost doubled that amount. Given how it took the program only five months to early 5 million users between April and September of 2020, one has to has to imagine that 20 million subscribers isn’t all that far away.
The high numbers are no doubt linked to the launch of the new Xbox Series X and S; why bother paying all that cash for an expensive third-party launch title when you could pay R150 for Game Pass and gain access to dozens of older games that are just as fun (if not more enjoyable overall)? Game Pass certainly isn’t making that much money for Microsoft but that flood of users into its ecosystem is definitely alright by them.
Last Updated: January 28, 2021
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
January 28, 2021 at 06:56
“very little profit” still sounds like profit. They shouldn’t get greedy.
Skyblue
January 28, 2021 at 17:58
Find a fault with their offering.
Gr8_Balls_o_Fire
January 29, 2021 at 06:56
You cannot. It’s a great product. My point is, they are speaking as if they’re losing money on it, and you can bet your bottom dollar they want to increase the price so that *MORE* profit can be made.
Skyblue
January 29, 2021 at 12:24
Agreed. They just shelved a proposed increase and I think it was due to the Series X still being so new to the market. They have to build that base before they increase pricing to draw in as many prospective customers as possible.
My kids still want a PS5 first though.
HvR
January 28, 2021 at 08:41
Wonder if that is active subscribers, over the last year I subscribed and cancelled 3 times.
Problem is it is not a constant value for money offering. If I find a game I want to play subscribe for 1 or 2 months play it and then cancel. As of late a lot of the new games (at least for PC) can be purchased in full for a lot cheaper than the subscription fee.
Skyblue
January 28, 2021 at 17:56
I would actually think it is. I have never once unsubbed but the value is that my sons dabble with the Xbox offering while I’m a PC gamer. The Ultimate plan works out a way better proposition than any other gaming platform on the market easily.
M$ profit is their problem, not mine. I subscribe for the value.
PS: How do you purchase a game for R150 p/m when they cost 1k on release?
HvR
January 29, 2021 at 02:33
… yeah sorry poor sentence … new as in the new offerings introduced on the Game Pass not newly released, typically released 1+ years ago.
Seem to have lined up with either Epic’s free games or Fanatical/Steam big discounts in recent months
Skyblue
January 29, 2021 at 12:21
I’m huge on Steam games and have purchased the odd Epic timed exclusive (Maneater) while racking up the fabulous free content on offer. The older game cycle doesn’t really bother me as I cannot bring myself to pay 1k for a new release and it’s broken day 1. However, if it’s for one of my kids and they really want it, I make exceptions as my youngest finished Dark Souls (Xbox) when he was 12 and is a firm follower of the series and anything else released by FROM Software. When they speak, I listen.
Skyblue
January 28, 2021 at 17:56
I would actually think it is. I have never once unsubbed but the value is that my sons dabble with the Xbox offering while I’m a PC gamer. The Ultimate plan works out a way better proposition than any other gaming platform on the market easily.
M$ profit is their problem, not mine. I subscribe for the value.
PS: How do you purchase a game for R150 p/m when they cost 1k on release?