Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass gamble shows results with a staggering 10 million subscribers
Currently available in 41 countries, the X-Box business is booming. The company, which used to be secretive of its financials and membership count, recently disclosed to a potential investor that they had secured around 10 million subscribers for the new X-Box Game Pass service. It has been some time since the company had put its bet on the subscription gaming platform. Additionally, the company is seemingly going to pursue its long-foreseen dream of devising a Netflix-like online platform for video gaming. Competing platforms like EA Access and Origin Access, which are not nearly close, having reached 5 million subscribers and Sony’s PlayStation’s recent feat of 1 million subscribers. Microsoft is estimated to have added 23 million subscribers and that it was close to an increase of 70 percent, bringing the total to a grand number of 90 million. The players were said to be playing online for twice as long and mostly in the multiplayer mode.
The pandemic is said to be the biggest driver of this increased number of players and users of X-Box live. People, especially teenagers, are being forced to adhere to stay-at-home norms and thus giving them all the more reason to get engaged in video gaming for longer than before. USD 4.99 was the monthly charge for the beta version that one could use on his or her computers while having a subscription for the X-Box Game Pass. The pandemic has proven to be extremely beneficial for the gaming and online streaming industry, for example, platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime. These platforms have also taken to releasing content, especially movies that were initially supposed to be released in theatres but were halted by the lockdown, attracting the audience looking for something to watch.
Microsoft has hinted at its plans to launch an Xcloud later this year. The lockdown period is proving fortunate for the gaming industry, as companies can widen their consumer bases and engaging people in games while they stay in the safety of their homes, thus, creating a demand for their products in the future.
