Microsoft announced that there are now 15 million people subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, which represents a momentous increase over the past five months.
In April, it proudly proclaimed that there were 10 million subscribers, which was already a lot of players. That's like if the entire city of Seoul, South Korea, was subscribed to Xbox Game Pass. Which they might be. I don't know. With 15 million subscribers, it's equivalent to every single person in Buenos Aires, Argentina, signing up for the service. Crikey.
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The service is priced at £9.99/$9.99 per month, plus a promotion which offers your first month of Game Pass for £1/$1. This is bound to have encouraged people to try it out, especially when lockdowns have led to a lot of people working from home. However, it's the impressive retention of membership that is the achievement here, in sustaining the current base of subscribers and inviting new members to stick around.
Really though, Xbox Game Pass subscribers get a lot of bang for their buck. There are almost 400 games available across a range of genres, from emotional mystery tale Tell Me Why (our review, here) to the gutsy and gory Resident Evil 7. It also offers the ability to stream games to phones or tablets through the Ultimate version of Xbox Game Pass. Additionally, Ultimate members will get access to new and old EA titles owing to its integration with EA Play, which will arrive later this year.
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Microsoft has also placed Xbox Game Pass front and centre in its Xbox Series X and S presentations, showing that it has no intention of leaving these players in the past. Interestingly enough, the company has admitted that Xbox Game Pass isn't actually that lucrative. "It's a different mindset. If you do optimise for profit, and you do specifically say... you can either say, 'How do we get as much profit out of each customer?' Or, do you pivot that and say, 'How do we add as much value to our fans?'" explained Aaron Greenberg, head of marketing for Xbox.
The Xbox Series X and Series S are set to launch on November 10, though pre-orders are rather problematic right now.
Featured Image Credit: MicrosoftTopics: Xbox, Xbox Game Pass