Microsoft’s bid for Activision Blizzard may be the highlight of the day, but the company also revealed a major milestone for its Game Pass service in the process. The all-you-can-play offering now has more than 25 million subscribers, up almost 39% from the 18 million it had a year earlier. The company did not say how many of those customers were using the service on Xbox consoles, Windows PCs, or both.
That’s a significant number for the service, if not as big as the company would like. Like axios noticed, Microsoft missed its Game Pass growth target for the fiscal year ending June 2021 – it was expecting a 48% year-over-year jump in membership, but it ‘only’ got 37%. While this was still going strong and preceded the release of Infinite Halo, the company is clearly eager to improve Game Pass performance.
That, in turn, explains one of the reasons for the deal with Activision Blizzard. Microsoft has made it clear that it intends to offer Activision Blizzard games through Game Pass. The $10 or more you pay each month can become a lot more enticing if you know you’ll always have the latest Call of Duty or World of Warcraft release in addition to your other Game Pass titles. While the merger may not be complete until 2023, it could preserve the momentum of Game Pass and help fend off looming competition from Sony.
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