Xbox Game Pass has been the great economic support of Xbox for years

The subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, has been fundamental these years for the brand.

More stories in the category Xbox Game Pass

• Xbox Game Pass: we close Saturday with a gem that will soon have a sequel
• Very beastly day of new releases for Xbox Game Pass
• By surprise we have a new Souls in Xbox Game Pass

In the midst of the debate over the future of Xbox and the recent strategic changes announced by the company, analyses continue to emerge that help understand how the business has functioned over the past few years. One of the most striking ones revolves around Xbox Game Pass and the role it has played within Microsoft.

According to a recent report, Xbox Game Pass not only would have been a profitable service but also would have served to economically support other parts of the Xbox division.

Xbox Game Pass would have been one of the main sources of income for the brand

The report explains that, over the past few years, Xbox Game Pass became a genuine cash flow machine, helping to subsidize other areas of the business while Microsoft drove its growth strategy. The analysis notes that the inability to manufacture enough consoles due to the component crisis made it difficult to capture new subscribers, affecting a model that heavily relied on the service’s growth.

Additionally, the document states that:

• Xbox Game Pass has helped finance other areas of Xbox for years.
• The lack of available hardware reduced the arrival of new users to the service.
• Recent price increases may have affected the growth rate.
• At times, the benefits of Activision Blizzard would have also contributed to supporting Xbox’s global strategy.

The report also highlights that it is difficult to understand why Microsoft would want to reduce the appeal of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, given its importance as a stable source of income for the company.

• These conclusions come at a particularly relevant time, after Xbox’s own management publicly acknowledged that the service experienced several months of decline before recovering growth thanks to the latest changes introduced.

Although Microsoft has not officially detailed the exact economic impact of Xbox Game Pass on the overall business, this type of analysis reinforces an idea that many analysts have been defending for some time: the subscription service has been one of the pillars that have allowed Xbox to maintain its commitment to large productions, acquisitions, and new strategies over the past few years.