Journalist Christopher Dring, who until recently headed the publication GamesIndustry.biz, spoke on the Install Base forum about the impact of the Game Pass subscription on sales of Xbox games.
Image source: Steam (The Dark Lord)
Microsoft admitted back in 2023 to the British Competition and Markets Authority that the addition to Game Pass harms direct sales of games on Xbox, but the scale of the damage was hidden in the report.
According to Dring, Xbox games lose up to 80% of projected premium sales when included in Game Pass. The journalist added that in the case of major releases, the figure may be lower.
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Where are the sales? (image source: Z0mb1eH3r0 on Steam)
At the same time, for multi-platform releases, the inclusion of the Xbox version in Game Pass and the subsequent increase in players on the platform can lead to a serious jump in sales, for example, on PlayStation.
Dring also added that the undeniable advantage of Game Pass is drawing attention to less noticeable games that would otherwise risk being passed over by users.
Game Pass gives its subscribers access to a wide range of games, including blockbusters from Microsoft itself on the day of their release (not available on all plans). Last winter, the number of service subscribers exceeded 34 million people.