Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass has seen its subscriber count drop to 30 million, well short of internal targets. The decline comes after a significant price increase last year that prompted millions to cancel. New Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has addressed the issues in recent staff communications.
A Wall Street Journal report indicates the total number of Game Pass subscribers stands at 30 million. This marks a loss of around 4 million from publicized 2024 figures.
Microsoft had aimed for around 77 million subscribers by July 2026, according to details from the 2023 FTC investigation into the Activision Blizzard acquisition. An internal slide also showed a longer-term target of 100 million paid members by 2030.
Last year's nearly 50 percent price hike for Game Pass Ultimate, tied to day-one Call of Duty releases, led to the loss of millions of subscribers. In April, Microsoft reversed course by lowering prices and delaying new Call of Duty titles to one year after launch.
In a memo this week announcing 3,200 job cuts in the Xbox division, Sharma stated the service "did not grow at the pace we expected." PlayStation has described the subscription model as "value destructive."
