Subscription is the new black in the world of gaming, and Microsoft is leading the pack when it comes to its game subscription service. Xbox Game Pass has been ruling the roost on both console and PC.
While Microsoft has been pretty forthcoming about its latest success — even going so far as to reveal the fact this past January that it had 25 million users — it has not broken down these figures or provided detailed financial numbers.
But this latest reveal provides us with a hint at how much Microsoft’s all-you-can-eat gaming subscription service actually makes.
As noted by Tweaktown, in order to get its massive Xbox Activision Blizzard merger through regulatory bodies across the globe, Microsoft is making legal arguments and sharing certain data points that it typically does not share with shareholders.
One such data point was shared with CADE, the regulatory body in Brazil, where Redmond revealed that its subscription revenue stands at $2.9 billion in the fiscal period ending January 2021.
This figure accounts for 18% of the company’s revenue from gaming that fiscal year, which puts Xbox Game Pass subscriber count around 18-19 million. Worth a mention that this figure only includes users on the console version of Xbox Game Pass, with PC Game Pass figures omitted.
Still, it remains hard to get an accurate picture of the company’s success in this domain, until we get an exact breakdown of this revenue.
We do not know whether this figure includes purchases of games after their Game Pass discount period, or whether it includes microtransactional and in-game content sales? Or do these numbers purely represent the subscriber figure across the game subscription service that cost $10 and $15 per month?
And most certainly, it does not show exactly how much Microsoft is spending to produce this turnover.
But it does serve as undisputed confirmation that there is definite demand for this type of subscription service that offers up thousands of dollars of content for $10 a month, particularly when taken in combination with the strong standing of the Xbox brand.
And, more importantly, it is another hint that the subscription service is likely here to stay!
