Xbox Game Pass isn’t working, according to experts
There's no denying the Xbox Game Pass is perhaps the crown jewel of the console's offering to the world, and as fans claim Xbox's first-party launches aren't nearly enough to contest PlayStation's focus on narrative masterworks, the Green Team proves over and over that it doesn't need them to succeed.
Microsoft pioneered the option to give subscribers the chance to play a huge host of games with a simple payment, taking the concept to new heights and never failing to maintain its prowess in the industry. But according to some, the longevity of Game Pass is running out faster than previously thought.
Game Pass growth is reportedly slowing
Click to enlargeOmdia analyst James McWhirter spoke to IGN about Xbox Game Pass numbers we haven't seen, indicating that subscriber numbers are starting to take a hit. Doing a Netflix, Xbox stopped communicating subscriber numbers in January 2022, but back then, it announced that 25 million users were actively using the service.
Since then, we haven't known anything concrete about the number of subs that Game Pass has - but Omdia has estimated that the service's numbers have slowed. They estimate that Game Pass now has around 33.3 million subscribers as of the end of 2023, which sounds like a great upgrade.
If you peel back the layers, though, the number suggests that the growth rate of the service has dropped from 15% in 2022 to 13% at the end of 2023. It's far from the death of Game Pass, but it's hardly the record-breaking figures Phil Spencer and co. have been suggesting.
Has Game Pass run out of potential customers?
Click to enlargeWith these estimates in hand, fans think that there's reason to believe that the number of users on Xbox that already use Game Pass is starting to reach its peak. It's a meteoric climb from the 460,000 subscribed at launch in 2017, but things are seemingly starting to get a little sluggish.
Admittedly, these estimates don't include subscriptions to the Xbox Game Pass Core model, which replaced Xbox Live Gold last September. As another positive, Omdia guesses that 55% of current Game Pass users are subscribed to the priciest Ultimate tier at $16.99/£12.99 a month.
As Game Pass Ultimate is only available in 41 countries compared to PC Game Pass' 97 markets, there's potential room for growth here. There are also the whispers of an upcoming ad-inclusive version of Game Pass that'll likely be a gamble that sees us flock to the service or abandon ship.
There are still a lot of players left to induct into the Game Pass family, and if Xbox can keep exciting titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle coming, there's a good chance that this percentage can pick up again. Xbox doesn't have God of War, but it does have a good half of the gaming industry available for one simple subscription.
