Reports indicate that Xbox aimed for 77 million Game Pass subscribers, but currently has only 30 million.

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      Microsoft's major gaming initiative has significantly missed its initial targets, despite years of acquisitions and substantial financial investments.

      Microsoft invested many years in branding Xbox Game Pass as the future of gaming. However, as per a recent report from Bloomberg, the service has not met the ambitious goals initially set by Xbox. The report indicates that Xbox executives aimed for 77 million Game Pass subscribers by the end of fiscal 2026, yet the service reportedly currently has about 30 million subscribers, which is less than half of Microsoft's expectations.

      Game Pass reportedly peaked sooner than anticipated

      The statistics become even more alarming when compared to more recent data. Bloomberg mentions that Game Pass now has approximately four million fewer subscribers than when Microsoft last made a public statement about the service in 2024, indicating that growth has decelerated rather than picked up speed. According to former Xbox employees quoted in the report, there were already internal concerns that the growth of Game Pass subscribers had hit its peak.

      Microsoft also attempted to modify its pricing strategy. Last October, the company raised the price of Game Pass Ultimate by about 50%, only to reduce it to $23 per month in April. The objective was that the premium tier would reinforce Xbox’s overall content ecosystem and ultimately boost game sales.

      Even the decision to include Call of Duty was complex

      One of the more unexpected findings in the report is that not all Xbox employees were convinced about making Call of Duty available on Game Pass from the start. According to Bloomberg, several team members expressed worries that offering one of gaming’s most significant annual releases through a subscription model could hurt full-price sales, especially since the franchise has traditionally excelled in retail performance.

      Those concerns were not entirely baseless. Bloomberg states that 82% of Black Ops 6 sales still originated from PlayStation, despite Microsoft owning Activision. The report indicates that Xbox’s subscription strategy did not yield the competitive edge many within the company had anticipated, even following one of the most substantial acquisitions in gaming history.

      The report does not imply that Game Pass is at risk of disappearing. However, with subscriber growth reportedly stagnating despite significant acquisitions and day-one releases, these figures provide a clearer understanding of why Microsoft may now be reevaluating aspects of its gaming business after heavily investing in subscriptions for several years.

      Varun is a seasoned technology journalist and editor with over eight years of experience in consumer tech media. His work spans a variety of topics.

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