Microsoft has announced that its Xbox Game Pass subscription service has passed 10 million members. The initiative, which adopts a similar model to Netflix and other streaming platforms, gives subscribers unlimited access to more than 100 Xbox and PC games for a monthly fee.
Commenting on the figure, Xbox chief Phil Spencer said that use of Game Pass, as well as the company’s online multiplayer gaming service Xbox Live, had increased substantially in recent weeks due to Covid-19. “Since March, Xbox Game Pass members have added over 23 million friends on Xbox Live, which is a 70% growth in friendship rate,” he said. “Game Pass members are also playing twice as much and engaging in more multiplayer gaming, which has increased by 130%.”
Microsoft’s head of communications Frank Shaw tweeted on Thursday that Xbox Live had hit a record 90m monthly active users this quarter.
We saw record engagement in gaming this quarter:
— Frank X. Shaw (@fxshaw) April 29, 2020
• Xbox Live has nearly 90 million monthly active users
• Xbox Game Pass has more than 10 million subscribers
• Project xCloud has 100s of thousands of active users in preview across 7 countries, with more coming
According to Spencer, Xbox Game Pass has also encouraged PC and Xbox owners to try new types of games. “After joining, people play 40% more games and more than 90% of members have played a game they wouldn’t have tried without Game Pass – often discovering new genres they have not yet experienced.”
The Game Pass service was launched in June 2017, after similar subscription offerings from other video game publishers, including Electronic Arts’ EA Access and Sony’s PlayStation Now. Microsoft boosted its service by providing access to its latest first-party games, including Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4, as well as legacy titles. Sony has not provided user data for PlayStation Now since October 2019, when the service had just 1 million users, suggesting an impressive lead for Xbox.
Microsoft has bet heavily on the subscription model, with Spencer claiming that the future isn’t about how many consoles the company sells but how many customers play its games and subscribe to its services, regardless of platform. Later this year, the cloud game streaming technology Project xCloud is set to come to Game Pass, enabling players to stream and play games against friends on whatever devices they own.
With a new console generation arriving this winter in the form of the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5, Microsoft has attempted to shift the emphasis away from console-exclusive titles by revealing that all its first-party next generation Xbox games will be available on PC, too.
“I’ve always believed gaming has a unique power to bring us together,” said Spencer. “I have no doubt that we’ll come through this experience stronger than ever.”
