Xbox Game Pass subscriber count grows slower than Microsoft expected

Between July 1, 2020 and June 30, 2021, Microsoft gained 37.5 percent more Game Pass subscribers. That is less than the company’s target of 47.8 percent. Last year, with a growth of 85.6 percent, the service received more new subscribers than expected.

Microsoft announces the increase in the number of Game Pass subscribers in a financial document. The forecast for fiscal year 2021 was already well below that for fiscal year 2020. Growth of 71 percent was forecast for 2020, but that year exceeded expectations. For reasons of competition, Microsoft says that it will only share the growth figures for the time being; the company does not say how many subscribers there are now.

In January, Game Pass had about eighteen million subscribers, three million more than in September last year. game analyst Daniel Ahmad expected based on the new figures that the number of Game Pass subscribers now exceeds twenty million. On October 26, Microsoft will release the full quarterly figures.

The Game Pass service gives players access to over a hundred games on Xbox consoles and PC. Those games can be played indefinitely as long as the subscription runs. The majority of games from Xbox Game Studios, which recently also included the Bethesda studios, will be available on the service from the moment of release. Xbox Game Pass costs 10 euros per month. The Game Pass Ultimate subscription, with which players can also play online, costs 13 euros per month.