Xbox game pass slaughter game sales, says Microsoft

People aren’t looking to own the games anymore.

by Rafly Gilang

Rafly is a journalist with growing experience, ranging from technology, business, social, and culture. A holder of the Romanian government scholarship, his writing has been published in several… read more

Published on February 15, 2023

In 2018, Xbox boss Phil Spencer believed in his Game Pass subscription program. He said that it would not cause a decline in sales and do nothing but boost the number.

His logic? Well, he was sure that it would be an efficient means of advertising the promoted games because they would recommend their peers to purchase them in full after spending just $10. 

Fast forward to 2022, what happened on the field isn’t actually like that. In a recent internal investigation launched by the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) amidst Microsoft’s attempt to acquire Activision, Xbox Game Pass contributed to the sales decline of video games because more people aren’t looking to own the full game anymore. 

The report also adds that 12 months after the game’s addition to the Game pass, the sales would decline. 

“Microsoft submitted figures on the gamers who spent at least [reduced]% of their total game-time on Halo Infinite in the month following release. According to Microsoft, these figures show that while these gamers’ total game-time increases as a result of their engagement with the new Halo release, both B2P game-time on other games and Game Pass game-time fall.”

The cost of an Xbox Game Pass varies in each region, but generally, it costs as little as $10/month for PC with the first month for $1, $10 for console, and $15 for a gold subscription with EA Play. For comparison, the cost to fully purchase a triple-A title on Xbox can be as high as $60 to $70. 

The news comes amidst Microsoft’s latest attempt to acquire Activision for almost $70 billion, which went sideways last year. CMA experts believe that the deal could stifle competition in cloud gaming and eventually bring more bad than good to the gamers as there will be fewer choices made by the tech giant. 

What do you think about the future of the Xbox Game Pass subscription service? Let us know in the comments!