Game Pass Sees Subscriber Count Drop to 30 Million

Xbox has kept quiet about the actual number of Game Pass subscribers since the service’s growth began to plateau. Recent reports indicate that the subscription base has dropped to 30 million monthly paying customers, a decline of 4 million since 2024.

According to a document revealed during legal proceedings related to the Activision acquisition, the company had initially projected that Game Pass subscriptions would reach around 77 million this year. However, it currently sits at about 30 million, as noted by a source familiar with the situation.

The 77 million target originated from internal Microsoft documents leaked during the 2023 FTC trial concerning the Activision Blizzard acquisition, which showed that the tech giant had aspirations for Game Pass to exceed 100 million subscribers by 2030. This ambitious goal was likely based on a series of studio acquisitions, major game releases, and strategic partnerships with third-party publishers.

By 2024, the subscriber count had only reached 34 million, according to comments from then-Xbox President Sarah Bond. Since then, Game Pass has experienced several price increases and welcomed new entries in the Call of Duty franchise to its day-and-date library. However, the situation escalated last fall when Microsoft raised the price of Game Pass Ultimate to $30 a month just before the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.

Unfortunately, the game received a lukewarm reception, and the price hike led to a decline in Game Pass subscriptions. Xbox chief strategy officer Matthew Ball mentioned earlier this year that this decision cost the service “millions of subscribers.” While Microsoft hasn’t disclosed specific numbers in recent years, a report suggested that the day-and-date launch of 2024’s Black Ops 6 on Game Pass resulted in approximately $300 million in lost revenue, indicating that the strategy was faltering even before the price increases.

In response, one of new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma’s first actions after taking over from Phil Spencer was to lower the monthly price of Game Pass and remove new Call of Duty releases from the service’s library at launch. Even if these changes help stabilize the situation, it appears that Game Pass may have reached its limit.