Xbox Game Pass Annual Revenue Nears $5 Billion For First Time, Says Microsoft CEO

Say what you like, Xbox is on the up and it shows. Speaking as a consumer, I've never had it so good - across any platform I've played, ever. They're on one hell of a roll, and now they've found a solid release rhythm these past two years (at last), we should see a lot of consistency moving forward. Exciting times ahead.

I read somewhere that there's a rumour Rockstar plan to delay GTA 6 until September next year. If that's true, it'll be interesting to see how the industry shifts their releases.

Well worth it then to close several studios and lay off staff....also didn't he say they'll use AI way more? So has AI written his statement?

In all seriousness this guy just makes me angry...... so yeah good on gamepass making moeny but it comes with an incredibly bitter aftertaste.

@Simu001 It's sadly just the state of the industry. It's become such a volatile and expensive endeavour, in which one failed project can make or break even a long-standing studio.

Rare and The Initiative spent far too long dragging their heels - and that's factoring in that we consumers only know half the story - and the half we did know painted a very bleak picture for the projects they were working on (which would have cost hundreds of millions to date).

As for AI - that's just the way things are going. Why pay staff when you can get the same job done for a fraction of the cost - assuming they can get AI in a position to do so. Further, AI may just help to cut dev costs and save other jobs in the long-run. Look at how much the landscape has changed since the start of this gen. It's a harsh world, but it is what it is...

That said, I personally think developers and publishers need to work out how to cut the cost of development so that prices don't continuously hike and jobs may be a little bit safer. Expedition 33 is frontrunner for GotY (Game of the Gen IMO) and that was achieved on a small budget, with a small team, and launched at nearly half the cost of most AAA games. It can be done.

If the average game pass subscriber is paying $15 a month, then that's less than 28 million subscribers.

There's a reason they don't give subscriber numbers anymore. It's the same reason they stopped giving console sales numbers last gen.

So if its earning 5 billion then dont come out with a price increase.

Very good so it couldn't be killing the industry like every anti Xbox person would have us believing!
Xbox is absolutely smashing it this year it has to be said!

500m MAUs needs to be scrutinised. That's more of less bigger than all console market combined. Bet it includes people playing candy crush

@Kaloudz well said. It feel like we are heading for a gamecrash if that makes sense or maybe even entertainment crash. Bloating budgets on unrealistic timeframes and technology that isnt quite there yet. I also think that game engines have suffered due to upscaling. Sure upscaling helps but it feels like without it engines run inefficient. Even with upscaling, performance seems to suffer alot of the time. I mean look at Unreal Engine 5. On paper it sounds like a powerhouse. In actuality it seems to run horrible on most systems. Well not much can be done as a consumer except giving feeback and "voting" with our wallets. Then again there's always the indie scene and AA space to keep an eye on. I also think that sometimes expectations are too high, I know I am "guilty" of hyping up a game for myself just to be disappointed.

Whilst I would agree that Game Pass had a good first 5 or 6 months this year, @Kaloudz, @GamerScore200K & @Ricky-Spanish, it does need to remembered that there is a difference between revenue and profits.

As an exaggerated example, Microsoft could have spent 6 billion to put all the games on Game Pass, and then all those that subscribed paid a total of 5 billion in revenue, meaning, in that example, whilst revenue is 5 billion, they actually made no profit, and in fact made a loss of a billion. Of course, I am not saying that is what happened, but people need to bear that in mind when viewing these figures. If Game Pass was a roaring success, I doubt Microsoft would have felt the need to make so many people involved in the service redundant...

$5 billion is pretty impressive, definitely due to the rise of Game Pass, but also the increase in subscribers—I'd love to know how many there are. Either way, Xbox’s strategy is a win for Microsoft, for Xbox, and especially for the players. I've never enjoyed Xbox games and Game Pass this much. I just finished Still Wakes The Deep (which has been on Game Pass for a while), and I loved the atmosphere.

Funny how the article’s author seems surprised that 40 games are in development—it was already announced before, and it's no surprise given Xbox studios' production pace and the sheer number of them. The ecosystem offers multiple ways to play: on console, PC, cloud, Game Pass—plus the ability to play across platforms with a single purchase thanks to Xbox Play Anywhere. They’re the only ones doing that. It’s truly a game-changer, especially as more and more players switch between devices, like from console to PC or portable console to Xbox.

@Simu001: it's the entire industry, and Xbox is far from the worst—on the contrary. EA, Ubisoft, Epic have laid off far more people. Even PlayStation cut 10% of its workforce, which is proportionally more than Xbox. At the same time, Xbox hired and even created studios. It’s just the current state of the industry, nothing specific to Xbox.

With AI, it's the same story. You could mention the Aloy leak animated via AI. It’s obvious that to deal with production cost constraints across the video game industry, AI has become one of the solutions.

@Simu001 Studios can also 'bleed' money with delays. How much money was spent on Perfect Dark for example over the 7yrs or so they kept the Initiative? Don't forget they also paid for 3rd Party Studio support and if they think its going to cost 'more' to actually get it to release, that game may never make its money back. Same with Everwild. They've written off a LOT of investment too with Cancellations and severance packages. Not just for those Studio based staff loses, but all the staff involved in HR, PR, Advertising, Publishing etc - as 3 Publishing Companies, each with their own Marketing teams, management etc merge into 1 more efficient company. You don't need 3 managers where 1 will do...

MS also bought in 'bulk, in a Bundle of Studios. They didn't just buy Studio's but also all the IP's, Publishing Rights and entire Publishing divisions. They may not have wanted EVERY studio - they own King now so don't necessarily need Bethesda's 'mobile' Development studio (so closed), maybe wanted Tango as a Horror developer, but the Studio changed direction to Hifi Rush.

The more Studios you have, the more games you have in development, the more 'issues' and 'delays', the more you need to invest to 'fix', where as if you get the 'Balance right, not spread yourself to thin, the quicker and easier it is to address issues and/or minimise delays.

Every Publisher has cancelled games and closed Studios. Bungie was hit hard and Sony closed Savage Games after only acquiring them in Aug 2022 - they didn't last 2yrs. Wonder Woman was cancelled and Monolith closed down by WB games, 2k reduced Crystal Dynamics team and now they are struggling with Tomb Raider, now behind on that...

Just go back through Gaming history and you'll see the same pattern - consolidation and/or restructuring during financially uncertain times whilst expansion and investment during booms. Go back to the XB1/PS4 era when we had Scalebound and Fable Legends Cancelled and Lionhead gone. The studio behind Motorstorm and Driveclub also got closed by Sony, EA once had the worst reputation in gaming for killing studio's, interfering with Games/developers to enforce anti-consumer practices, treating their staff poorly etc.

Point is, its industry wide, not a MS specific issue and Microsoft has expanded the most during the Boom, taken on the 'most' new Studios and Staff, with the most disorganised and poorly run Company (ABK) needing a MASSIVE overhaul after Koticks Management to bring it up to MS's standards so perhaps needed the most restructuring compared to others, but in terms of 'Game Studios/creators' MS hasn't lost 'more' than others as a percentage of their workforce.

@Fiendish-Beaver To be honest I don't see any connection to the sackings and gamepass at all it's just a nice punching bag for people to use!
Al is the elephant in the room for that In my opinion!
And do you honestly think they spent anyway near 5 BILLION on gamepass in a year??
Maybe a few hundred million or even a billion at a stretch there's no way on gods green earth they spent over that at all especially considering most games released this year on it are Xbox own first party titles it's just funny people literally jump through hoops to put a negative spin on anything Microsoft/Xbox related if they spent 5 BILLION on gamepass id expect all playstation exclusives to be on it because it's billions not millions!

@themightyant I just mean by the comment that including mobile F2P games massively inflates the stat. I'd be more interested in knowing MAUs for game pass and paid for Xbox/PC games TBH, it gives us a better comparison for engagement Vs Sony and Nintendo

That's not what I was saying, @Ricky-Spanish, but there are a lot of running costs involved in running Game Pass, from Studio pay, to third-party content and everything in between. I'm not trying to run Game Pass down, all I was doing was saying people need to reign their horses in because $5 billion revenue is not $5 billion profit, and it is likely very far from it. Indeed, what I would say is that if Game Pass were making a really healthy profit, I'm sure that Microsoft would tell us so because it would be something to boast about, and also would put all those nay-sayers in their place once and for all. The fact that Microsoft do not talk in terms of profit is particularly conspicuous to me...

@Coletrain Gamepass has nothing to do with mobile game numbers like candy crush maybe it's just good news and not some sort of conspiracy 🤷

I absolutely agree, @themightyant, but it does need to be remembered that every Studio under the Microsoft banner is making a contribution to Game Pass by virtue of their game being released day one on the service.

I think Microsoft are cutthroat enough to see a studio making only a small contribution to Game Pass (and Xbox in general) redundant because a small profit is probably not enough for them. After all, all the studios under Microsoft are paid from the revenue made from Game Pass, and game sales, and until that game is actually finished and released, that studio is costing Microsoft money, not making money...

@Fiendish-Beaver Tbh I wish they would release definitive numbers for these things not for myself because I'm not really bothered but so there is no debate about it!
And yeah 100% it's not going to be 5 billion profit but surely they must be making money off gamepass I know that's not popular to think as it's supposed to be killing the industry apparently for some reason but I cant see Microsoft running gamepass anywhere near at a loss if it's going this long and strong Microsoft isn't going to just keep it going out of the goodness of there hearts they must be making a profit or else it wouldn't exist no more🤷

@themightyant 6bn was probably Gross and that equated to the 4.2bn 'net' they had quoted the last time they stated anything regarding game pass - its grown to nearly 5bn 'net' since.

@Coletrain As for MAU's it doesn't matter if its not just their Console Platform because Microsofts platform is not JUST the Console - it includes Mobile, Cloud, Consoles, PC and EVERY Game (as that is a Microsoft Product regardless of where you Play) - you are choosing to spend your time and money in their Products or Services wherever you 'choose' to access these.

Cloud may not be a dedicated gamers preferred choice to play, but maybe good enough for the casuals who still play on PS4/XB1S hardware and that is running on 'virtual' Xbox hardware. PC is not a Single Platform and MS has their own there too - inc Battlenet which is more popular for CoD than Steam. But CoD on Playstation/Steam still counts as MS's MAU using one of their Products...

MS can't 'compare' with Nintendo or Sony really because they only have their Console as their Platform but MS has multiple platforms now where their users are spread across. Consoles for MS are just 1 option but not the only or 'main' option. During the 360 era, they focussed solely on the Console and neglected all their PC players, neglected their own PC platform.

It doesn't matter to MS where you play, just as long as its in one of their Products or Services. If you want to play on their Hardware, great, but you can play on their Windows PC, their Game Pass App and Xbox servers etc - anytime you interact with a MS Product (and that includes their IP's/Games), you count as a Monthly Active User to MS.

I highly doubt they are making a significant profit, @Ricky-Spanish. There was a recent report (maybe a leak) that showed that Microsoft were paying up to $50 million to put a third-party game on Game Pass ( https://www.purexbox.com/news/2025/07/microsoft-spends-up-to-usd50m-on-xbox-game-pass-partnerships-says-former-manager ), and it needs to be remembered that each of these recent game cancellations were paid for from somewhere too. Thus the developers that were making games such as Perfect Dark and Everwild, which were in development for many years, did not work for free, and their wages had to be paid from revenue earned elsewhere, be that sales of other games, or from Game Pass revenue. Any game that does not come to fruition costs Microsoft profit, which is why they have become more cutthroat of late. However, when you consider just how many third-party games enter Game Pass each year, they all have to be paid for to enable them to come on to Game Pass, and it likely costs in the billions alone.

Personally, I think if Game Pass were making a significant profit, Microsoft would tell us so, rather than giving us a detail such as $5 billion in revenue, which can be read in different ways, and which far from tells us the whole story...

@Fiendish-Beaver Yes them cancelled games would of cost money to develop to pay the staff but surely gamepass as a service is separate to that yes Microsoft lost money on all that but that's Microsofts debt why lump the debt on a service??
They are all Microsoft studios games development teams surely that debt is on the Xbox brand division whatever and not gamepass as the games where never on it in the first place there's a difference to Xbox division losing money and gamepass a service of that division losing money.

The money to pay for those developments has to come from somewhere, @Ricky-Spanish. In the case of Perfect Dark, it was in development for what, 7 years? Each year they had to pay the developers and for the studio running costs. That money has to come from revenue earned somewhere, be that Game Pass or revenue from earnings from first-party sales, or third-party sales, or microtransactions. I have no idea where it comes from, but I do know it does not magically appear from thin air! It seems the most obvious to me that much of that money would comes from Game Pass because that is a steady income, and the games were being made to be released into the service. I could easily be wrong, as I say, I do not know...

@Fiendish-Beaver Almost every company talks in terms of revenue and never profit in these calls/recordings, even if it is profitable. Revenue makes companies look better and they’re there to impress the stock market and will frame it the best way possible. It’s just the way it is.

@GamerScore200K That was my first thought 😁👍 If the platform is rolling in the money, why the need for an increase.

Will this finally put the awful "its unsustainable" takes to bed?

@Fiendish-Beaver I understand that but Microsoft is one of the richest biggest companies in the world I'm sure that's where the money came from there's no debating that!
But it's not necessarily a debt on the gamepass as a service is what I'm saying it's on Xbox Microsoft game development or whatever studio is involved not the service it would eventually go to!
And 7 year's for perfect dark which I would of assumed would of been a linear single player game not a massive big Witcher type game is far to long something should of been sorted about that years earlier!
Look how fast RoboCop unfinished business came out after the original with a team a fraction of the size and budget that the developers would of had to waste for 7 years making a perfect dark game!

@Simu001 Oh if the means don't justify the ends, then yeah, you're totally right - and if the industry doesn't sort out a realistic way forward than you're absolutely correct, there'll be a crash at some point in the future. I wholeheartedly believe that.

We consumers haven't helped matters. Developers tried other ways to try and recoup money and we fought back at every hurdle with online campaigns and boycotting (microtransactions, loot boxes, cut content etc...). I'm not saying we're to blame, but we haven't made their lives any easier - especially when so many are the first to say "support a developer with cash"...

It's a shame, but this is the impasse we're at.

@Fiendish-Beaver I don't think that that's the case. I think whoever is charge of balancing the budget has a primary job of meeting a quota and ensuring that the cost never exceeds close to the income. I think if the opposite was true, Game Pass would have crashed long ago.

DAU and MAU are so important! I am happy Xbox and Microsoft realized that… it’s way better to sell only 2M of hardwares but having 500M MAU, than selling 100M of hardwares but having 5M MAU…

Hardware numbers mean nothing…
Otherwise a lot of companies would start selling expensive cars when looking at the numbers of cars being sold in the world, as an example…

@BacklogBrad Absolutely no chance of that happening. $5 million revenue really doesn't tell us anything and through it's vague nature it only serves to increase the discourse.
Best to just ignore it and enjoy the hobby

@BacklogBrad Like the conspiracy that the moon landings where faked it will never go away unfortunately no matter what proof is shown to people 🤷

5 billion is crazy, but how much profit did Microsoft make after expenses? Paying 3rd parties to put games on game pass and developing 1st party games to be on game pass on day one must be expensive.

It’s a joke why did Xbox post this it’s a smack in the teeth to all the people and companies and games that got cancel and unemployment and destroyed careers so they can make more profits they should be sacked and Phil should step down why do no one say thing

@Ricky-Spanish just on about those 500m MAUs bud, not doing conspiracy theories. I don't use this forum to bash Xbox, quite the opposite

@Oldgamer03 To be honest if Phil is making them these record revenues for the greedy shareholders last thing they would do is sack him besides the fact the decision for those redundancies would realistically be over his head and wouldn't be his decision

@BAMozzy mobile does matter because it's a huge market and isn't comparable to the types of games on console/PC. I'm not disputing the numbers, I just find it disingenuous not to split the figures

@Coletrain Sorry dude didn't mean to offend you✌️
And you are right they would definitely have to be counting the mobile users if the number is 500 million active users i couldn't imagine that amount on pc and Xbox alone.

@Ricky-Spanish no offence taken bud, no disputing how successful the gaming division has been at all and I'm a huge Xbox fan now.

I'm thinking more that the total addressable console and PC market that can access Xbox games (let's just ignore grannies and kids playing candy crush on iPad for a minute lol) is probably 500m on its own, so when they say that stat alongside gaming revenue and services growth, its just misleading

It is indisputable that Xbox is doing very well in terms of numbers, Sony or Nintendo would probably give their right arm to have a service where Gamepass is right now.

The important thing is that this translates into a platform that satisfies its users, and this is where Xbox has deflated, although services like Gamepass itself are great, losing first-party exclusives without winning those of others has left the platform in a situation of disillusionment and distrust very dangerous for its long-term future.

@themightyant yep, very fair points mate

@Simu001 99% his speech was written by AI… there is a giant laser beam at Microsoft to zap you if you release any communications done by a human…

@Coletrain It only matters in the context that people choose to play on that device but it doesn't matter if they 'choose' to play on Mobile, Console OR PC - the 'device' doesn't matter as much as the Games/Services you access through it.

Microsoft are getting people to spend their time and money in their Products and Services - whether that happens to be on an 'Xbox Console/their PC platforms (their own) or any 3rd Party Hardware like Mobiles, other PC platforms (Steam, Epic etc) and/or other Consoles. Yes they may get a bit more revenue when selling through their own Store as the Retailer too, but if you choose to buy on PS, you are still playing a Microsoft Product, still a Microsoft consumer, still part of their MAU.

It doesn't matter if you choose to spend your time on Xbox playing Call of Duty or Candy Crush on Mobile or FH5 on Playstation or play an 'indie' on Game Pass, you are still choosing to spend your time in one of their products or services, still making money from you and you are still count as a Monthly Active User of a Microsoft Gaming Product/service.

What also seems to be forgotten is that Game Pass is just the open door - so to speak. If you start to play games like CoD, Doom, Starfield etc on Game Pass, you'll likely end up buying some Content and Games on that hardware. That's also why they want to build up the Stream your own Games to encourage those that 'only' stream to spend money on Games.

CoD for example has 6 seasons of Content, Cosmetic bundles releasing daily it seems, CoD points and even 'premium' Events (even if they have a 'free' tier) and the majority of money/profit is made from MTX. More players in, more MTX sold, more money to be made. You aren't buying on Playstation or Steam if you play via Game Pass, you are buying from MS who get 100% of the revenue - not 70% like on Sony Hardware.

Subs fees are just the start of the Revenue stream from Game Pass, the games themselves will generate additional revenue from sales of DLC, Seasonal passes, Cosmetic Bundles, in-game payment schemes like CoD points etc etc. They still get revenue from all Games/content not on Game Pass too of course, but Game Pass only gives you 'entry' into the base Game, none of the additional post launch content and MTX's sold after release which Game Pass subscribers still buy....

Only have 2m sales in the first few months, only sell up to 2m Season 1 passes, but get 10m+ in, even if only 1.5m bought in the first few months, they can sell 5x more Season Passes etc

Its more about getting gamers in their Products and services regardless of what 'hardware' they have or choose to access from. They are still a Microsoft Monthly Active User of one of their Products (hardware and/or software) or services!!

@Fiendish-Beaver Microsoft has always kept billions on hand. So not only do they not carry any debt but those extra billions generate revenue which fuel their acquisitions… so they tend to just gobble up competition or patents … which is why the FTC is always one step away …

@Coletrain this number will include anyone logging into any product they own. Windows, mobile games, you name it.

Folks need to learn that Microsoft numbers and xbox numbers are very much different measures.

@Gabrie If you break the 5 billion down as others have highlighted, it comes to around 28 million users. In Feb 2024 GP had 34 million, so its actually a decline.

In March 2023 PS Plus had 47.4 million users. While these have likely dropped, its still highly possible they hold more subs than GP. it would be interesting to compare revenues over the same period.

Short version being PlayStation may not need to give an arma and a leg for a service like GP.

@BAMozzy I'm not taking about people playing GP on phones though mate, there literally wouldn't be enough subscribers to even slightly affect the 500m MAU claim. I'm on about these numbers including people playing King games on mobile and tablet, not me playing cloud on an iPhone

@Weebleman ah, so even when I turn on my PC I'm a MAU. Makes it even weirder to say this alongside gaming revenue in articles then

@Coletrain as with all these companies, they throw big numbers out in a way that sounds amazing but dont paint an accurate picture.

They basically cover off everything they provide by putting it under the microsoft banner. Had they said 500 million MAU playing games then that would be serious stuff. They are just talking about folks using their products which in perspective, is what you'd expect when they own one of the biggest operating systems

Ewww CEO pretending to care about layoffs they themselves ordered. While simultaneously boasting about record earnings. The fake sympathy is nauseating 🤢

@Coletrain And so was I - it doesn't matter whether they are playing on Game Pass via Cloud or playing a Microsoft owned IP like Candy Crush - they are still using a Microsoft Product or Service, still a Microsoft Monthly Active User of one of their Products/services and/or spending money on MS products.

It really doesn't matter if its 'just' Candy Crush or Call of Duty, doesn't matter if you bought or rent the game on Game Pass, doesn't matter where you 'choose' to play, its still engaging with a Microsoft Product/Service so still counts as a Monthly Active User regardless!!!

@BAMozzy which was exactly my point, in that including mobile users (NOT game pass cloud mobile), which is the biggest market in gaming BY FAR inflates that figure significantly.

I want to see what is gaming revenue Vs MAUs for real games, not trash mobile games, regardless of if Microsoft have now inherited them through ABK.

I think people need to take a step back here. The reality is that quarterly reports are provided for investors as part of regulations related to public companies.

Too many times gamers read this stuff wrong. Gamers are not the target of this information, investors are. The only thing that should be taken out of this from a gaming point of view is that MS is satisfied with the direction the division is going and they feel that highlighting certain data they are measuring is what they think investors want to hear to support their positive outlook.

@Coletrain But that is your 'personal' perspective but from a Company perspective, they are still interacting with, choosing to spend their time and money engaged with Microsoft products (as Candy Crush IS a Microsoft Product) and/or Services.

From a Microsoft perspective it really doesn't matter what product or service you engage with, you are still using a Microsoft product or Service. still contributing to their MAU's and Revenue!

Just because you think that some products or services are more important to YOU, doesn't make them any less a MS MAU using a MS product!

Just like you may want to know how many 'buy' a game on Xbox versus play it via a Subscription, that doesn't 'matter' to MS - you are still engaging with their Products and contributing to their revenue, their MAU numbers etc.

As long as you are engaging with a Microsoft product (regardless of Platform, Product or Service), you are going to count as a Monthly Active User of a Microsoft Product. The fact Mobile maybe far larger than all the Console market combined is irrelevant, they are still using a Microsoft Product so still a Microsoft Monthly Active User!!!

Its no different from Sony saying they've shipped 100m units, doesn't mean they've sold 100m or that those that did buy actually used the product and/or for how long. It doesn't tell you they even installed a game let alone played it for more than 10mins. Just like MAU's don't tell you whether they just signed into Game Pass that month or played 100's of hours - they are still a MAU

Anyone who thinks Game Pass numbers are anywhere below 40M are nuts. Last we knew the official number was 34M almost 2 years ago. Since then we've seen countless smash hits like COD MW3, BO6, Indiana Jones, Diablo 4, Avowed, Oblivion remastered, Doom The Dark Ages, and many other games hit the service. So with that output you're telling me that you think subscribers actually fell? Give me a break....

Remember, a lot of these subscribers are still on the trial plan, some are on the core plan, and a chunk may only be on the PC only plan. I'm sure a majority are likely on the Ultimate plan, but there are those who simply just need access to playing online and opt in for the core plan. So trying to "math" your way to a subscriber count is pointless. I'm going to guess 40-43M.

Also, for those saying this is just revenue and not profit, I don't know many major brands who talk in profits over revenue. It's almost unheard of. Before I opened my private practice I worked in grocery, retail, telecommunications, and for a radio station, and I've never heard anyone saying "Okay team, this quarter we made $$$ in profits!". It's almost always revenue and profits are kept relatively close to the chest for both negative and positive reasons. The fact that GP makes $5B a year is insane and a resounding success. If I had to guess, they probably spend a couple million dollars a year on acquisitions and content, but who knows. Who cares? It's a hell of a service and a hell of a fun time.

Everyone is so wrapped up in nonsense like how many plastic pieces a company sells, or how many subscribers a company has, that they almost forget to play the games they're offered. Touch grass, people

Spin it all you want but these results are freaking amazing for a "dead" brand.

@BAMozzy did I dispute that a mobile player was a MAU? No, I didn't. I said it inflates the figures.

And yes, as an Xbox gamer I very much do want to see how that translates to console and PC users without mobile. My PERSONAL OPINION is that presenting these figures like this is BS because it presents a mobile player as no different from a hardcore gamer like me, so it tells me nothing interesting about my hobby and it's success

$5bn gamepass revenue is very impressive but means little without profit margin.

@Coletrain And again what YOU Want is irrelevant and of no importance to ANYONE other than yourself. The fact you call yourself a 'Hardcore' gamer as if that makes ANY difference whatsoever as you still only count as 1 Monthly Active User.

Playing on an Xbox doesn't make you any more 'superior' to someone playing on their Mobile or on a High end PC. You are still counting towards the MAU, still contributing a 'tiny, tiny almost imperceptible' difference to their revenue stream (not unless you are spending 'millions' every month)

Sales don't tell you if they are being used by casuals or not, don't even equate to individual owners as some may buy multiples, don't tell you whether they played 5mins or completed everything. You aren't important enough or significant enough to get a 'breakdown' of MS's (or any other big gaming company) stats in a way you want and besides which, its irrelevant to you.

All that matters to MS is that they have increasing numbers Actively engaging with their Products/Services to show 'growth' and Reach of their Products across all their Platforms service and you are just 1 of 500m, lose you and they'll still have around 500m MAU's. I'm not being rude, but you are just a gamer who has no idea of the business, the revenue generated, some Mobile Users may spend more than you do on MS products/services, and no more 'important' than ANY other user of a MS product/service. You count equally as 1 MAU just like the person who plays Candy Crush every month or only plays Warzone (F2P) on PS5 or only pays for Game Pass and never spends anymore on content.

Its no different from F2P games telling you they have 25m a month MAU's - which doesn't tell you if they spend ANY money or only tried it for 10mins, doesn't separate the ones that spend over $20 from those that spend nothing - you signed in that month, you count as a MAU.

The point is that everyone who chooses (as it is a choice) to use a MS Product or Service that month is equally a Microsoft User. 500m people use a Microsoft game or service every month which is a huge chunk of the gaming population.

@BAMozzy FFS it's like arguing with a brick wall. I did NOT dispute the meaning of MAUs I said it is inflating the figures and doesn't relate to the gaming picture that I or you for the matter operate in.

Honestly, I don't know why you insist with these walls of text when you have no idea what point I'm making anyway pal

Take the stats regarding CoD 50m players over 2bn Hours which equates to just 40hrs per player, yet some have 100's if not 1000's of hours so some may only have 10mins or so. But it still equates to 50m different players and an 'average' playtime of 40hrs.

500m MAU's contribute to their Hours spent in their Products and revenue is averaged out too. 50m CoD players and say 20bn in revenue, just for illustrative purposes!!!!, doesn't mean everyone spent $400 on CoD. Some will have spent very little and others thousands on Bundles, season Passes etc. It still 'averages' around 40hours and $400 spend - its not broken down to show how many whales there are versus the no-spends.

Back when they announced that they had 35m+, they also said that Game Pass Revenue was around 4.2bn (net) - don't forget that you pay Tax on the price which goes to the Government - not MS so in the UK, 20% of the £15 for Game Pass is Tax, MS get 80% so you have to factor in Tax.

Lets say that 20% is tax and 35m Subs are all paying £10, so that is £350m Gross Revenue, but MS only get £8 so their Net Revenue is £280m. Instead of getting £4.2bn a year (35m x £10 x 12months), their Net Profit is £3.36bn (35m x £8 x 12months)

Tax varies from region to region and currency conversion too affects how much (in $'s) their Net revenue is - you can't do 5bn (net) / $20 and come up with a Subscriber figure because its more complex a situation than that. From my perspective, I looked back at their last comments of 35m and 4.2bn net revenue so now its up to nearly 5bn, it indicates that either 'more' subscribers have joined or that those Subscribing are paying more (either because intro deals have expired so now paying more or they've upgraded from a lower to a higher tier.

If they were making even close to a billion profit, @Millionski, Microsoft would be shouting it from the rooftops. Honestly, we would get sick of hearing them mention it.

The truth is we do not know how much profit the service makes because Microsoft choose not to tell us. Just as they do not tell us subscriber numbers any more, though consistent rumours tell us that numbers are falling. Just as Microsoft do not tell us exactly how many consoles are being sold, again, because they would rather obfuscate than tell us the numbers because we know they are bad. I mean, Microsoft won't even tell us how well a game is selling, instead muddying the waters with 'player engagement', which artificially inflates the numbers due to Game Pass, and of course, you only need to play a game for 5 minutes to be counted among that 'player engagement' figure, which in itself completely distorts the picture.

Truth is, none of us know. Not those that view things through a more negative perspective, nor those that can only see things being nauseatingly rosy. What we do known though is that Microsoft are quick to crow about anything that they think is worthy of crowing about, and thus it is highly unlikely that the profit that Game Pass makes is anywhere close to a billion, because if it was, you could be absolutely certain that Microsoft would tell us about it...

@Millionski if the price is higher then thats less users as it will divide into a lower amount.

I do agree that most people use loop holes and upgrades to stack, and i agree that folks should if they could, but that wont be the casual market doing that. The majority of people who would use these methods are folks like you and me who read websites like this. There are only so many of them out there. Its the casuals that are the majority, not us.

@Coletrain And again its NOT inflating Numbers at all. The WHOLE Point is this is the number of People who engaged with a Microsoft Game or Gaming Service every month. The fact you 'choose' or can afford to spend Money on Hardware for your Hobby is no more or less significant than someone choosing to spend their very limited leisure time on their Mobile phone, the only device they may have to play a MS game like Candy Crush.

You are still using a Microsoft Product to spend your leisure time engaging with. Just because you are extremely blinkered and/or completely ignorant/rude/obnoxious etc to 'dismiss' other Microsoft users, doesn't mean MS should or will.

As I stated, yet you completely go off from, Candy Crush is a Microsoft Product so ANY person that plays it will count as a Monthly Active User of a Microsoft Product, No different from you signing into your Xbox or playing an Xbox game on PC or Playstation - you are still using a Microsoft 'Product' in your Leisure time. You can't say that someone who chooses to play Candy Crush or maybe just play Halo: Infinite or Warzone Free on PC, or whatever other platform (not Xbox Console) Microsoft Products are on is NOT counting or shouldn't count as a MAU of a MS Product - just because you think Candy Crush is only for Casuals or not a 'proper' game to YOU, doesn't stop it being a Microsoft Product or a Game to those users!!!

I don't care and certainly Microsoft won't care about your opinions on this, the fact is that they are NOT inflating their figures because those people actually engaged with a Microsoft Gaming product or service at least once a month. Candy Crush, like it or loathe it, is owned by MS, is a Microsoft Product, classed as a game regardless of your opinions, so ANYONE that plays is counting towards their MAU - just like you do or I do or ANYONE else that chooses to spend time playing Microsoft games regardless of the Hardware you access those Microsoft products on.

You may hate Call of Duty, Candy Crush, Pentiment etc but they are MS product sand everyone that plays is just 1 MAU, like you! It doesn't matter if you play CoD on your Mobile, your Amazon Firestick or Playstation, you are still using a Microsoft product for your leisure time. 500m people use a Microsoft Game or Service at least once every month regardless of what that product/service is or how YOU rate it - its still a MS product that gamers (again regardless of how Hardcore or Casual YOU deem them) have chosen to spend their time with.

That is NOT inflating figures at all and makes no difference to you at all how they decide they want to present information that's not really meant for the likes of me or you, but the investors and shareholders. They want to see MAU's and revenue increasing, they don't care as long as you are choosing to spend your time in 'their' products/services and 500m people every month do!!

@BAMozzy so my mum, who is 70 and plays candy crush, doesn't spend a penny on it mind, never played anything even close to a console or PC in her life, is a good barometer of how successful Microsoft gaming is? Just because they acquired King? Not really though is she.

It's just a way for Nadella to tell investors how big the whole thing has got with this ABK acquisition. It's absolute tripe, and has nothing to do with Microsoft gaming.

For the record I don't hate COD and I adore Pentiment. But let's just agree to disagree on these numbers being in any way worthwhile as a way of knowing how well Xbox gaming is doing. When Amy Hood predicts to that the financials will decrease in Q1 2026, you can bet that King sales have jack all to do with it

@Millionski this is true, but even in that range it means zero growth.

For the record, im not saying Gamepass is bad, its the best value out there for games if you want the big day one hitters.

Microsoft on the other hand are a gaggle of horrors that run people and companies into the floor while they chase a quick bit of profit. Same as every other corporation out there.

@Millionski It's clear that many here don't quite understand business, or understand it to a point and can't grasp how the back end of it works.

Bottom line is that companies almost never discuss profits and almost always discuss revenue dollars. Profits are usually kept internal whether it be good or bad. And for those who think Game Pass subs are lower now than it was 2 years ago? Well, I have a timeshare on the beach in Iowa I'd love for you to take a look at.

Nadella should ask AI how to read the f**king room 🙄

@GamerScore200K

Revenue is not profit though. People need to stop being conned by corpo speak.

I could sit here and say that GamePass is actually a loss making business.

I dont expect you to take my word for it but you can work it out yourself:

How many studios does Microsoft run? If each AAA game costs aprox $100 million to create (that's a low ball figure!); then studios x game cost = Development costs

Then divide that figure by 6 because each game takes aprox 6 years to make and this gives us our yearly "T cost" figure.

Then Google:
"how much does microsoft pay 3rd partys for games on game pass"
and you'll see the answer to this question is a bliion dollars.

"T costs" + $1 billion = Total game pass costs

Then see if that figure is more or less than the $5 billion revenue figure.

I already ran the numbers so I know the answer.

People are trying the napkin maths on gamepass again but it's impossible to know the real costs.

Take for example Disney Plus, which just took in $10.2b in FY 2024 and only made a modest profit in 2 of the quarters, and losses in the other 2. The cost of original programming for Disney Plus is probably only something in the region of $1-2b a year(about 4-5 prestige dramas a year, 3-4 movies and some comedy and documentaries) and most of the stuff is Disney owned movies and content they own through other channels etc. So where do the rest of the $8-9b costs come from?

lol these keyboard warriors have suddenly become economists too. 😂🤣

MS is seeing the fruits of their labor. GP is going strong, even with the constant doomsayers. Any company that makes it easier to game while accessing more of your library is bound to rake in the bucks.