Microsoft Gives A Glimpse At Xbox Game Pass Revenue For The First Time
We all know that Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass service is rather successful, but just how profitable is it really? On that matter, Microsoft tends to remain stubbornly tight-lipped, leaving the masses to guess how much revenue it's pulling from subscriptions. However, as part of the upcoming Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merge, interesting information found its way out, giving us our first glimpse into the revenue of Microsoft's Game Pass in ages.
Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass is a subscription-based service that grants Xbox gamers access to a rotating catalog of games. Microsoft regularly expands the lineup, adding new titles every month, although some also leave the platform much the way shows and movies disappear from services like Netflix every now and again. It's all down to licensing. However, for as long as the title is available on Game Pass, users can play it without extra fees through their monthly subscription. Game Pass also offers savings on titles that aren't fully covered by the subscription, and it enables online play with other users.
Xbox Game Pass is available on the Xbox consoles as well as on PC, where it's simply called PC Game Pass. Microsoft might also soon introduce Game Pass Friends & Family, which will let multiple gamers share the same account at a cheaper price. This will, undoubtedly, only serve to increase its Game Pass revenue, which is already pretty enormous according to this new information.
The information comes from an unexpected source
The Microsoft and Activision Blizzard merger — or, more accurately, Microsoft's acquisition of the company – is seen as controversial by many. However, it has brought us one good thing: the figures for Microsoft's Game Pass revenue, all thanks to Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE). It's an unexpected source, to be sure, but a welcome one nevertheless. TweakTown spotted the report and shared it, revealing a staggering number.
According to Brazil's CADE, Microsoft generated $2.9 billion from its console subscription business in 2021. This may not include the PC Game Pass, and it's hard to say whether it also covers the profits made from game sales made through Game Pass or in-game microtransactions. In any case, it's a large amount, and it may amount to around 18% of Microsoft's revenue for the same year, as first noted by EuroGamer.
Although Microsoft doesn't talk about it much, TweakTown notes that the company also saw a large increase in subscribers sometime during that period. Between August 2021 and March 2022, the total number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers went up from 15 million to 18 million. Seeing as the growth and the revenue are both enormous, we can be hopeful that Microsoft will continue expanding the service to further compete with PlayStation's own membership.