Summary
Xbox Game Pass Reportedly Ended 2023 With Over 33 Million Subscribers
Given the subsequent lack of communications, it stands to reason that Microsoft no longer considers the growth rate of Xbox Game Pass something worth boasting about. The latest piece of evidence substantiating that theory comes from London-based analyst and consultancy firm Omdia; speaking toIGN, Omdia Senior Analyst James McWhirter revealed that the British company’s estimates put Xbox Game Pass memberships in the ballpark of 33.3 million as of year-end 2023. That figure suggests the platform’s 2023 growth rate sat at 13%, two percentage points down compared to the previous year.
460,000
Launch month figure
1 million
2 million
5 million
10 million
First reported in April 2020
15 million
18 million
25 million
28.97 million
Omdia’s estimate
33.3 million
On a more positive note for Microsoft, Omdia believes that 55% of the currentXbox Game Passuser base is paying for the most expensive, Ultimate tier of the service, priced at $16.99 per month. That percentage is even more impressive in light of the fact that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is currently only available in 41 countries, whereas PC Game Pass covers 97 markets, as per the platform’s official support pages. Meaning that Microsoft still has room to upsell some of its existing customer base to the more expensive tier of the service, thus boosting its profitability.
But margin-chasing of that sort is unlikely to happen in the immediate future; while Omdia’s figures are another strong indicator that Xbox Game Pass is maturing, the service should still be able to find (many) more users before Microsoft might entertain the idea of better monetizing its customer base. For example, therumored ad-supported tier of Xbox Game Passwould be a potentially efficient way for the company to reinvigorate the platform’s stagnating growth. Doing so would almost certainly come at the expense of profitability, but maybe not the tech giant’s bottom line, depending on the resulting growth boost.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft’s flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you may play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
