Xbox Game Pass Has a Remarkable First Year Creating New Opportunities for Gamers and Developers
It’s
been one year since we launched Xbox Game Pass, a monthly membership built for
gamers. From the very outset, our goal with Xbox Game Pass has been to provide
you with more value and choice by delivering a diverse library of games
reflective of the long history of Xbox, as well as create new opportunities for
our industry partners that make a positive impact. Thanks to you, this last
year has been remarkable – we’ve been humbled by your enthusiasm and support.
Over the
last year, we’ve achieved several important milestones based on feedback from
our fans. We heard from around the world that you wanted Xbox Game Pass, so we expanded and now support 40 markets across the globe.
You also
told us your number one must-have feature was to have more AAA blockbuster
titles available. In response, we announced in January that
going forward, we plan to release all new Xbox games from Microsoft Studios
into Xbox Game Pass the same day as their global launch, including new
iterations of future unannounced games from some of our biggest franchises such
as Halo, Forza and Gears of War.
So, how
is Game Pass creating new opportunities for both gamers and developers? In its
first year, Xbox Game Pass has proven to be great for both gamers and game
developers as an additive means to drive discovery and engagement of games. The
freedom to explore and play more great games is changing gaming habits in
incredibly positive ways.
After
joining Xbox Game Pass, Game Pass members are playing more games than ever
before — not only games in the Game Pass catalogue, but also other Xbox games outside
the catalogue. As a result, we’re seeing more active players for games across
the board, which is having a notable positive impact for our publishers and
developers, including increased sales for games in Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox
Game Pass is also creating bigger player communities, more buzz and excitement,
and longer lifespan for games that enables our partners to drive more business
opportunity. For example, in March, Sea of Thieves marked
the first Xbox title to release into Xbox Game Pass timed with its global
release, which contributed to a thriving Sea of Thieves community that
saw more than 2 million players within
its first week of release.
And
building on this momentum, in May, we made the second Xbox exclusive title from
Microsoft Studios available to Xbox Game Pass members with the release of State of Decay 2 on May 22. The response from our community has been extremely positive, contributing to the over one million players
across the globe playing and creating their own zombie survival story.
In
addition to our first-party portfolio, we’ve continued to add a variety of new
titles for you to explore and enjoy every month, so you always have something
new to play. We’ve seen an incredible community response to newer titles in the
catalogue such as Pro Evolution Soccer 18, theHunter: Call of the Wild and Clustertruck and can’t
wait to bring you more popular titles in the year ahead.
It’s
also been exciting to see titles in Xbox Game Pass experience revived gaming
communities across a variety of genres and franchises. Games in Xbox Game Pass
have a longer tail of engagement, sustain their community and help developers
connect with new audiences than before.
What’s
more, those same community members often go on to then try the next major
release from those franchises thanks to being introduced to new genres and
content they may not have otherwise explored, simply by having unlimited access
through the Xbox Game Pass catalogue.
We have
a long-term commitment and belief in making subscriptions a model that benefits
gamers with more choice and game creators with more opportunity. We will
continue to invest in this space. We look forward to further evolving Xbox Game
Pass by bringing even more great games in the year ahead to continue to meet
the needs of gamers and game developers.
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Aussie Gamers Express