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[Heisenberg007]

FYI — they merged XBLG to Game Pass core.

 

[BennyBlanco]

Having to use the windows store is reason enough.

Also not contributing to the netflixification of gaming is another.

The windows store is what made me tap out. It would flat out refuse to install certain games no matter what I did.

If they ever fix it I’ll sub again. Not bothering with it until they do. I was basically using it to demo games that I would eventually buy on Steam.

 

[alphachino]

January 2021 - 18 million
January 2022 - 25 million

So they jumped 7 million in 1 year and then in almost 2 years they've gotten 5 million...

Seems shit

 

[Dick Jones]

I think we'd all prefer some actual figures [and breakdowns (lol)] from MS. Great news if confirmed, hearsay is annoying after a while.

 

[Joramun]

Who cares PS+ has 101,578

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Seems shit

Seems pretty good. 30M GP subs + an undisclosed number of Gold members.

Sony has 45M total PS sub members and dropping. And Sony has double the user base and started off their PS Now service years before MS did GP.

 

[BoxFresh123]

 

[THE DUCK]

30mil x 1,- is only 360mil a year, how do they do it

Pretty sure MS has already confirmed that less than 10% are $1 subs at this point.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Seems pretty good. 30M GP subs + an undisclosed number of Gold members.

Sony has 45M total PS sub members and dropping. And Sony has double the user base and started off their PS Now service years before MS did GP.

Have you taken into account that a big part of those 30M GP users are using the PC version of Game Pass (they've stated multiple times that PC is where they see the biggest growth nowadays for GP)? Sony doesn't have PS+ on PC.

 

[Dick Jones]

30mil x 1,- is only 360mil a year, how do they do it

The profit and loss will have Gamepass sales as the full price on every sub with discount allowed in as an expense. You'll never know the figures of Gamepass in isolation. I'm not inferring anything, just pointing out how recording works.

 

[RoboFu]

Isn’t GP mandatory now ? Like built into the Xbox subscription??

If so that’s a worthless number.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Seems a bit low, given that it's not tied to just Xbox consoles and their aim was for a market of 2 Billion users.

 

[ZehDon]

I imagine Microsoft are shy on announcing new subscriber milestones until they've demonstrated the ability to retain it. Hitting 30 million and having 30 million are quite different. Last number they were confident enough in announcing was 25 million, so I'd roll with that until they publicly declare otherwise.

 

[adamsapple]

FYI — they merged XBLG to Game Pass core.

Yep, so the 'official' game pass figure is likely near or north of 50m now. They should flaunt it for a bit like Sony did before they also stopped reporting it.

I imagine Microsoft are shy on announcing new subscriber milestones until they've demonstrated the ability to retain it. Hitting 30 million and having 30 million are quite different. Last number they were confident enough in announcing was 25 million, so I'd roll with that until they publicly declare otherwise.

Yeah, they should report it at least once now. If/when the Activision merger completes, then maybe ?

 

[WoJ]

Seems like a relatively poor number to me.

 

[ZehDon]

Yeah, they should report it at least once now. If/when the Activision merger completes, then maybe ?

I suspect they're being conservative for a reason, so, I think we'll get an update once ABK's games land on Game Pass and the subscriber count goes up sustainably. When they announce whatever the next number is, I believe that would be the new baseline for Game Pass rather than merely the new high point.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Have you taken into account that a big part of those 30M GP users are using the PC version of Game Pass (they've stated multiple times that PC is where they see the biggest growth nowadays for GP)? Sony doesn't have PS+ on PC.

And MS doesn’t have Xbox Gold on PC either.

But both MS and Sony have sub plans that include PC access.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Yep, so the 'official' game pass figure is likely near or north of 50m now. They should flaunt it for a bit like Sony did before they also stopped reporting it.



Yeah, they should report it at least once now. If/when the Activision merger completes, then maybe ?

The latest Sony sub count was roughly 45M. It would be insane if Xbox’s sub count is close to that number or more when Xbox Gold subs are included (which just converted to GP Core this week). With PS user base double Xbox it should be about double at all times.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

And MS doesn’t have Xbox Gold on PC either.

But both MS and Sony have sub plans that include PC access.

The point is that no one on PC is seriously buying PS+ (lol!?), while there's millions of PC players like me and a ton of my friends that do sub to GP to locally play games on their PCs. I'll reiterate that MS themselves said that they've seen massive growth on PC so you should include that massive number of potential PC customers in the install-base.

The latest Sony sub count was roughly 45M. It would be insane if Xbox’s sub count is close to that number or more when Xbox Gold subs are included (which just converted to GP Core this week). With PS user base double Xbox it should be about double at all times.

Again you're comparing apples and oranges when PC accounts for a large % of the total number of game pass subscribers.

Edit: The last reported Xbox MAU is 120M.

Xbox Network MAU 2022 | Statista

The number of Xbox MAU has constantly increasing over the years - the most recently reported figure of Xbox Network MAU was 120 million.

www.statista.com

First launched in 2002, the Xbox Network is an online multiplayer service associated with Microsoft’s Xbox line of consoles. As of December 2022, Microsoft's online gaming service had approximately 120 million monthly active users, up from just under 40 million at the beginning of 2016. The service was known as Xbox Live before rebranding into Xbox network in March 2023 and to differentiate it from the Xbox Live Gold subscription service offering.

 

[OuterLimits]

GamePass seems like a pretty good deal. I would certainly get it if I owned an Xbox. I doubt I would have regrets paying for the service like I do with PS+ Premium.(Extra seems decent though)

 

[StreetsofBeige]

The point is that no one on PC is seriously buying PS+ (lol!?), while there's millions of PC players like me and a ton of my friends that do sub to GP to locally play games on their PCs. I'll reiterate that MS themselves said that they've seen massive growth on PC so you should include that massive number of potential PC customers in the install-base.


Again you're comparing apples and oranges when PC accounts for a large % of the total number of game pass subscribers.

Edit: The last reported Xbox MAU is 120M.

Xbox Network MAU 2022 | Statista

The number of Xbox MAU has constantly increasing over the years - the most recently reported figure of Xbox Network MAU was 120 million.

www.statista.com

So what your saying is Xbox PC gamers don’t count because there’s more of them than PS PC gamers. Got it.

 

[adamsapple]

GamePass seems like a pretty good deal. I would certainly get it if I owned an Xbox. I doubt I would have regrets paying for the service like I do with PS+ Premium.(Extra seems decent though)

It's the main reason why I picked up an Xbox when the new consoles launched and waited 2~ years before picking up a PS5.

 

[octiny]

Crazy numbers.

just an FYI, CoreGP launched the 14th of Sept. The OP's info was from August.

I expect they'll surge to over 50 million sooner or later w/ CoreGP.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

So what your saying is Xbox PC gamers don’t count because there’s more of them than PS PC gamers. Got it.

Where did I say that lol? I just said your comparison is disingenuous when GP has a far wider reach than just on the Xbox console themselves and thus the MAU and potential customer base for GP is much higher than the one you've mentioned previous replies ago.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Where did I say that lol? I just said your comparison is disingenuous when GP has a far wider reach than just on the Xbox console themselves and thus the MAU and potential customer base for GP is much higher than the one you've mentioned previous replies ago.

Both Sony and MS have their fancy sub plans with PC access for years so let’s not pretend PC access only works on Xbox like it’s a one sided advantage.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Both Sony and MS have their fancy sub plans with PC access for years so let’s not pretend PC access only works on Xbox like it’s a one sided advantage.

Again, the MAUs are quite comparable between the 2 ecosystems as reported by statista. 122M MAUs for Xbox vs 108M MAUs for PlayStation. Of those MAUs for Xbox there are 30M GP users + an undisclosed number of former Xbox Live Gold customers that now will be added onto the GP total. And for PS+ there's 45M subbed users from a total of 108 MAUs.

PlayStation Network MAU 2023 | Statista

While it is tricky to pinpoint exactly how many PlayStation users exist, Sony officially states that the number of active PSN users is more than 120 million.

www.statista.com

Xbox Network MAU 2022 | Statista

The number of Xbox MAU has constantly increasing over the years - the most recently reported figure of Xbox Network MAU was 120 million.

www.statista.com

 

[Holammer]

if you own a pc or xbox then you would be mad not to dip your toes into game pass, be it the odd month here or there or 12 months+ thats kinda the point of a subscription service.

mine runs out 10th october so i will add another year or two somehow or other at that point.

 

[SenkiDala]

Probably gonna be over 50 with Core numbers added in post-September.

Yeah a nice way to artificially grow the numbers.

 

[Pedro Motta]

 

[DownLikeBCPowder]

if you own a pc or xbox then you would be mad not to dip your toes into game pass, be it the odd month here or there or 12 months+ thats kinda the point of a subscription service.

If it was free maybe. I used a free trial a few months ago and wasn't all that impressed. (PC) Nice, but not worth the money for me and I'm sure it'll continue to go up over time. I'd rather just buy and own my games.

Also, my internet is shit so I can't just download and play something on a whim.

 

[octiny]

Where did I say that lol? I just said your comparison is disingenuous when GP has a far wider reach than just on the Xbox console themselves and thus the MAU and potential customer base for GP is much higher than the one you've mentioned previous replies ago.

To be fair, most PC gamers use Steam & don't touch anything else. Let alone, a paid subscription.

So I'd say in terms of an actual realistic PC base, it's a fair comparison.

It's far more impressive getting PC gamers to use Windows Store/GP than getting a console gamer to sub on any console, that's for sure. Where Steam homers & rampant piracy exist.

Then you have people like me, who used GP on Xbox a crap load, but have primarily moved to PC & have subbed there instead.

Is the potential higher on paid subs w/ PC included? Yes. Is it realistic potential as we currently stand? No.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

To be fair, most PC gamers use Steam & don't touch anything else. Let alone, a paid subscription.

So I'd say in terms of an actual realistic PC base, it's a fair comparison.

It's far more impressive getting PC gamers to use Windows Store/GP than getting a console gamer to sub on any console, that's for sure. Where Steam homers & rampant piracy exist.

Then you have people like me, who used GP on Xbox a crap load, but have primarily moved to PC & have subbed there instead.

Is the potential higher on paid subs w/ PC included? Yes. Is it realistic potential as we currently stand? No.

I guess that if you separate Xbox Games Pass subs into two distinct categories Console and PC (which Microsoft hasn't done so far in any of their reporting for Game Pass numbers that I know of), then yeah, it's clear that Xbox console users are more engaged in the ecosystem than PC users and account for the majority of that 30M GP number. How much though, idk because we don't have a split. What we do know is what Nadella said last year which is that they've seen massive growth coming from PC ("PC Game Pass subscriptions increased 159% year-over-year." - ).

Anyway, an apples to apples comparison is taking the number of MAUs of each respective gaming network that both Microsoft and Sony have released numbers on (120M MAU for Xbox Network and 108M MAU for PlayStation Network) and then compare the % of users of each ecosystem/network currently subbed to GP respectively PS+.

 

[In Cold Blood]

Onwards and upwards.
The value for Gamepass us just too much to be ignored at this point.
With the lineup of exclusives coming in the the next few years, and the addition of COD if the deal goes through, then it's going to take over.

 

[dotnotbot]

I guess that if you separate Xbox Games Pass subs into two distinct categories Console and PC (which Microsoft hasn't done so far in any of their reporting for Game Pass numbers that I know of), then yeah, it's clear that Xbox console users are more engaged in the ecosystem than PC users and account for the majority of that 30M GP number. How much though, idk because we don't have a split. What we do know is what Nadella said last year which is that they've seen massive growth coming from PC ("PC Game Pass subscriptions increased 159% year-over-year." - ).

Anyway, an apples to apples comparison is taking the number of MAUs of each respective gaming network that both Microsoft and Sony have released numbers on (120M MAU for Xbox Network and 108M MAU for PlayStation Network) and then compare the % of users of each ecosystem/network currently subbed to GP respectively PS+.

We already know half of the GP subs are on PC:

Xbox Game Pass Has Surpassed 15 Million PC Users

A Group Product Manager's Linkedin profile has revealed the Xbox Game Pass subscription has over 15 Million PC users.

tech4gamers.com

Both Sony and MS have their fancy sub plans with PC access for years so let’s not pretend PC access only works on Xbox like it’s a one sided advantage.

Dumbest thing I read on this forum in a while.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Yep, so the 'official' game pass figure is likely near or north of 50m now. They should flaunt it for a bit like Sony did before they also stopped reporting it.

They should.

But I doubt it's 50M now. I was of the belief that XBLG doesn't have 20-30M subscribers. I think 5M-10M would be the case, but happy to be proven wrong.

And if it is indeed 5M, for example, then that would push GP from 25M to 30M after this merger. That means GP would be near or just above 30M. There would be no 50M figure.

 

[adamsapple]

They should.

But I doubt it's 50M now. I was of the belief that XBLG doesn't have 20-30M subscribers. I think 5M-10M would be the case, but happy to be proven wrong.

And if it is indeed 5M, for example, then that would push GP from 25M to 30M after this merger. That means GP would be near or just above 30M. There would be no 50M figure.

It was supposedly at 29m some time last year via Sony's internal projections, so even if XBL is only 10~ and factoring in the natural time that's passed, at the minimum GP + Core should be close to 40.

But it doesn't seem like we're ever gonna get accurate numbers from either Sony or MS about sub numbers now.

 

[Heisenberg007]

The title is a bit misleading at the moment. Mods should edit to say that it's according to a person's LinkedIn profile.

 

[Heisenberg007]

It was supposedly at 29m some time last year via Sony's internal projections, so even if XBL is only 10~ and factoring in the natural time that's passed, at the minimum GP + Core should be close to 40.

But it doesn't seem like we're ever gonna get accurate numbers from either Sony or MS about sub numbers now.

I doubt Sony had any way to find real data. Microsoft kept insisting at 25M, and Sony was trying to make GP look bigger to win the ABK case.

 

[Edmund]

if you own a pc or xbox then you would be mad not to dip your toes into game pass, be it the odd month here or there or 12 months+ thats kinda the point of a subscription service.

mine runs out 10th october so i will add another year or two somehow or other at that point.

No thanks. I'd rather buy my games.

 

[systemr123]

Not that your hate boner doesn't already show itself, but just FYI, this is derived from someone’s linked-in profile, not a 'desperate attempt' news piece.

1. I don’t have a hate boner, I even like Starfield.
2. I criticize everyone if they do bad stuff, whether it’d be MS or Sony or anyone else.
3. LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
4. I give credits when credits are due.
5. We all know your “allegiance” to a certain system so you are the last person to judge about bias. If bias has a description in the dictionary it’d say: See Adamsapple comments.

 

[systemr123]

 

[Chukhopops]

1. I don’t have a hate boner, I even like Starfield.
2. I criticize everyone if they do bad stuff, whether it’d be MS or Sony or anyone else.
3. LinkedIn profile doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.
4. I give credits when credits are due.
5. We all know your “allegiance” to a certain system so you are the last person to judge about bias. If bias has a description in the dictionary it’d say: See Adamsapple comments.

Sony subscription price increase:

Sounds like that but don’t forget that when everyone gets 15% salary raises because of battling the inflation now, the prices of goods must go up with them.

MS subscription price increase:

Wow pay more for less quality games (save Starfield if it’s as good as it looks). Time to cancel my sub for reals this time. Why should one pay more, for all that indie crap?

Please just add 3 to 4 games monthly that are actually good, close to, or AAA level. I don’t need 12 weak games every month for more pay.

You’re just full of crap, just accept you have a side, nothing wrong with that, everyone can read your post history.

 

[systemr123]

Sony subscription price increase:

MS subscription price increase:

You’re just full of crap, just accept you have a side, nothing wrong with that, everyone can read your post history.

Easy explanation: 1 service offers a good set of games even though price increase is exorbitant. Another service release 90% indie games next to the not so good as hoped 1st party games and also has a price increase.

Not biased here but I just like the PSN offering better together with what they release on the service each month. MS had some great games in the beginning but now they’ve all left the service and a majority of indies replaced them.

 

[VAVA Mk2]

The catalog will be insane id the ABK acquisition actually makes it through.

 

[twilo99]

The catalog is already insane but getting all the older CoD games on there would be amazing..

 

[systemr123]

Adamsapple right on schedule .

It’s amazing how green some people are that they see valid criticism as bias. If I was biased towards a certain platform I’d also nag a lot about the other competitors such as Nintendo and PC.

Unfortunately 1 company doesn’t do so well to say it carefully so they get much more criticism than the other competitors. That’s not bias, but it is confirmation bias from some other people.

Also, I have all consoles plus a nice gaming pc so I don’t have any stakes in making one look good or bad for any specific reason. I am also saying I’m enjoying Starfield for what it is. Why would I do that if I was super biased?

Long rant short: it’s exactly the same small amount of people that defend their box to their death because they’re so insecure, so much so that any valid criticism is seen as being biased.

 

[Heisenberg007]

The latest Sony sub count was roughly 45M. It would be insane if Xbox’s sub count is close to that number or more when Xbox Gold subs are included (which just converted to GP Core this week). With PS user base double Xbox it should be about double at all times.

This would have been true if GP wasn't available on PC and mobile.

It's available on PC, mobile devices, and Xbox. Even if we ignore mobile completely, Xbox (~65 million) + PC (120 million) puts the total potential userbase to 185 million, compared to PlayStation's ~125 million.

 

[Chukhopops]

Easy explanation: 1 service offers a good set of games even though price increase is exorbitant. Another service release 90% indie games next to the not so good as hoped 1st party games and also has a price increase.

Not biased here but I just like the PSN offering better together with what they release on the service each month. MS had some great games in the beginning but now they’ve all left the service and a majority of indies replaced them.

Even if you like one service more than the other, the inflation argument applies to both increases or to none at all? Why mention it only in one case? Mystery.

You’re not fooling anyone with your neutral stance and you have zero ground to call others on bias, drop the act, man up, etc.

 

[adamsapple]

It’s amazing how green some people are that they see valid criticism as bias

Would be true if there was any valid criticism coming from your way, sadly there's none. It's just shallow platitudes, Chukhopops has already given one example above and I don't care enough to do individual quotes, but anyone can look up your recent posts.

This would have been true if GP wasn't available on PC and mobile.

It's available on PC, mobile devices, and Xbox. Even if we ignore mobile completely, Xbox (~65 million) + PC (120 million) puts the total potential userbase to 185 million, compared to PlayStation's ~125 million.

"potential" is such a slippery slope of a metric, you can "potentially" add all PC to the PS side as well as you can use PS Plus to stream playstation games on PC.

 

[DaGwaphics]

I guess that if you separate Xbox Games Pass subs into two distinct categories Console and PC (which Microsoft hasn't done so far in any of their reporting for Game Pass numbers that I know of), then yeah, it's clear that Xbox console users are more engaged in the ecosystem than PC users and account for the majority of that 30M GP number. How much though, idk because we don't have a split. What we do know is what Nadella said last year which is that they've seen massive growth coming from PC ("PC Game Pass subscriptions increased 159% year-over-year." - ).

It would be shocking if PC didn't have more growth potential, tbh. Seems like there is a bit of a wall that gets hit on console (something clearly visible on PS as well), because you'll never get every console owner to subscribe. Once you hit that wall your potential growth on console becomes a % of your console buyers that are new to the ecosystem.

The same applies to PC as well, but you have a lot more potential buyers.