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Xbox Game Pass subscriptions miss Microsoft’s target

elliot5

Member
What?

Only for Xbox’s performance review (i.e. execs). 38% growth is still absurd, but future growth is going to be constrained by Xbox Series supply and $1 deals expiring. I’m curious to see the rate of those who actually pay full price once the $1 deal expires. Retention is important.
Imo future growth is more likely to be constrained by marketing and adoption of the cloud service once tv apps and streaming sticks become available to all markets. Meaning, console attachment will probably remain high and steady, but subs will explode if more people get on board with xcloud

The cloud aspect will drive huge growth if they can market it properly. Lot of naysayers about cloud but paying $15 instead of $315 or $515+ to play Starfield on your TV is pretty enticing.
 
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Going from 20 to 30 million would represent 50% growth in a couple of months. Do you think that's realistic when they couldn't achieve 48% in 12 months?

If they achieved 85.75% growth in FY2020 then pretty much anything is possible. These Game Pass growth figures Microsoft just provided don't account for anything past June 30th, 2021. 3 whole months have passed since that time.

Next fiscal year 2022 will include not just Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite's release, but likely Redfall's also. Game Pass is in a very strong position.
 
A 37% increase from 18 million = 24.66 million.

Basically 25 million subs.
It's 37% increase over the 12 months from June 2020 through June 2021. They announced they were at 18 million in January 2021. Previously they had reported 15 million in October 2020? ( need confirmation). So if they had let's say 14 million in June 2020, that would put them at roughly 19 million subs by June of this year. That is, if their subs didn't decrease at any given period (which happens), and they're actually still at 18 million by June 2021, or who knows, less. If they had 13 million subs in June 2020 then a 37% increase in 12 months put them at 17.8 million by June 2021, that's why I think they had at least 14 million by June 2020. I could be wrong though. But it seems to me they didn't have much growth in the first 6 months of this year compared to the last 3 months of last year.
 
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Dick Jones

Gold Member
Hit that manly report button! You'll feel good!
All I'm saying is since Jim Ryan took charge everytime Bryank75 Bryank75 is banned, Sony makes an acquisition.
Jurassic Park Hold Onto Your Butts GIF


See you in a few Bryan
 
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Kacho

Member
I don't get how you can't be. I usually find at least a game a month, easily substantiates the cost.
Different strokes. Having access to a ton of games is nice but I’ve never been starved for stuff to play on my Xbox. I’m coming up on four weeks of straight Diablo 2. Before that Samurai Warriors 5. A Game Pass sub has no value to me.


And I don't get your last statement, if there is two full price games it you want it makes even more sense to be on gamepass and then buy them later if you really must own them for $10 each.
Maybe if I was hard on cash but that’s not the case. I’m going to buy FH5 just like I buy every Forza game because I know I’ll get my money’s worth. If I was only going to play it for a few days, then sure a Game Pass sub makes sense. However, I know I will play it on and off for a couple years at least so just straight up purchasing it makes more sense. Same goes for Starfield.
 
So, they missed their own fiscal year projected target by 10%?

That's it. Kill the service. Fire Spencer. Launch Satya into the moon. Finally, shutdown the Xbox division.

You may not know about american culture, but I'm an expert. Honor and respect are big parts of it. It's not like the Nintendo Online expansion pass that no one gives a fuck about. This is HUGE. Phil Spencer, submit your resignation letter immediately or kiss your business goodbye.
 

MrA

Member
Sounds like their expectations were higher due to the over inflated year of 2020...37% is still superb. 48% expectations is insane...but expectations tend to be, hence their trillion dollar market value.
they probably got a little drunk off the 80% growth or whatever the previous year brought since it exceed expectations by so much, but like you said, they still added millions of new subs
 

GHG

Member
Yes, that's true, and taking FY2019 numbers into account, and after those figures were analyzed, Microsoft set a 71% growth target for Game Pass FY2020, which Game Pass beat 14%. So in the prior year, they overperformed their projection, and in this year they underperformed them. Taken together, this fiscal year and last, Game Pass is beating Microsoft internal projections for subscriber growth, all without Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite or Starfield.

You need to take into account how percentage increases work. Your original statement of it not being that bad when taking last year into account is correct but your subsequent conclusions have been incorrect. This year's percentage target would have been based around last year's actual figures. If they missed or just met last year's targets then it stands to reason the target for this year might have been even higher. They will have at least a 5 year plan for something like this and every target will be set with a view to remaining on target for that.

If they achieved 85.75% growth in FY2020 then pretty much anything is possible. These Game Pass growth figures Microsoft just provided don't account for anything past June 30th, 2021. 3 whole months have passed since that time.

Next fiscal year 2022 will include not just Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite's release, but likely Redfall's also. Game Pass is in a very strong position.

I suggest you go and look at how Netflix's subscriber growth has been over the years. Lofty percentage increases are easy when you're starting on the floor. They get exponentially more difficult the larger you get however.

To achieve growth that exceeds your previous years growth % you typically need a huge catalyst like launching in a new country/region with a total addressable market that at least matches or exceeds that of your existing markets.
 
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Different strokes. Having access to a ton of games is nice but I’ve never been starved for stuff to play on my Xbox. I’m coming up on four weeks of straight Diablo 2. Before that Samurai Warriors 5. A Game Pass sub has no value to me.



Maybe if I was hard on cash but that’s not the case. I’m going to buy FH5 just like I buy every Forza game because I know I’ll get my money’s worth. If I was only going to play it for a few days, then sure a Game Pass sub makes sense. However, I know I will play it on and off for a couple years at least so just straight up purchasing it makes more sense. Same goes for Starfield.

Game Pass isn't about being hard on cash lol. I make excellent money and will still subscribe to Game Pass because it gives me access not just to the very biggest of games coming to Xbox, but also a bunch of other great games, many of which are also AAA titles, that I wouldn't have purchased simply due to the fact that they weren't as high on my must play list as whatever else I was playing at the time. My entire view on on gaming has changed. I'll only buy what isn't inside Game Pass if it's a game I must have right away. Otherwise, everything else coming to Game Pass, such as Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite (one of my most anticipated games), Starfield, Redfall, Stalker 2, Perfect Dark, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, The Elder Scrolls VI, Contraband, etc., I will be playing as a permanent subscriber to Game Pass.

This is what Microsoft is advertising. "Available Day One on Game Pass," "Get it Day One on Game Pass." If it's already coming to Game Pass, why the hell should I buy it even if I make amazing money? I've already paid for it as a Game Pass subscriber. Now games that I really, really feel are something special based on my time with them, I may go purchase anyway, or maybe I won't. That's the entire point. I don't have to buy many of these games because Microsoft already gives them to me as a Game Pass subscriber. This is the mindset they want Xbox eco-system gamers to have, which is why they are pushing Game Pass as hard as they are.
 

kyoji

Member
They need to get the TV app out too...that will probably be the biggest growth factor outside of xcloud taking off.
Yea….. no, i really dont think a tv app would help that much, youre also competing against other built in tv apps for time+money so its not that simple although it obviously wouldnt hurt
 

ByWatterson

Member
Games are still the currency in this business, and despite their good presentations and potential, they're still lacking in a reliable stream of non-Halo/Gears/Forza first party titles.
 
You need to take into account how percentage increases work. Your original statement of it not being that bad when taking last year into account is correct but your subsequent conclusions have been incorrect. This year's percentage target would have been based around last year's actual figures. If they missed or just met last year's targets then it stands to reason the target for this year might have been even higher. They will have at least a 5 year plan for something like this and every target will be set with a view to remaining on target for that.



I suggest you go and look at how Netflix's subscriber growth has been over the years. Lofty percentage increases are easy when you're starting on the floor. They get exponentially more difficult the larger you get however.

To achieve growth that exceeds your previous years growth % you typically need a huge catalyst like launching in a new country/region with a total addressable market that at least matches or exceeds that of your existing markets.

Going into next fiscal year, Microsoft has Halo Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, likely Redfall, as well as the fact that Cloud Gaming as part of Game Pass Ultimate just launched in Australia, Brazil, Japan and Mexico.


Cloud Gaming has apparently been so popular in Brazil that server capacity has been an issue. So we shall see where things are at the next time Microsoft announces numbers, which Phil confirmed yesterday they will be doing, and also what growth looks like Fiscal Year 2022 ending June 30th.
 

THE DUCK

voted poster of the decade by bots
Different strokes. Having access to a ton of games is nice but I’ve never been starved for stuff to play on my Xbox. I’m coming up on four weeks of straight Diablo 2. Before that Samurai Warriors 5. A Game Pass sub has no value to me.



Maybe if I was hard on cash but that’s not the case. I’m going to buy FH5 just like I buy every Forza game because I know I’ll get my money’s worth. If I was only going to play it for a few days, then sure a Game Pass sub makes sense. However, I know I will play it on and off for a couple years at least so just straight up purchasing it makes more sense. Same goes for Starfield.

Why not just get it on gamepass for now and then buy it later for $10? Then you get to keep the game and get all the other gamepass games to play......
 

fermcr

Member
Microsoft need BIG exclusives for Gamepass, lots of exclusives... Microsoft's big exclusives are way to sparse. They need more, more, more...

Take the example of streaming TV services Netflix, Amazon, Apple, HBO, etc... they gain more clients when they release big exclusive TV shows and movies. Without those big TV shows and movies, the streaming service will die sooner or later.
 

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Goddammit Bryank, why you gotta do that to yourself?

sue makes stuff GIF
Looks like he got bored as most of his buddies here have been banned lately. So they're all on eggshells even when unbanned. If there's no big console warrior threads going on, they all either barely post or some not at all. To them, no console wars = no fun.

Also, a lot of us have been in the Reee/MOBA thread which makes those kinds of threads the past week thinner than normal.
 

Flintty

Member
Goddammit Bryank, why you gotta do that to yourself?

sue makes stuff GIF
Lad can’t help himself!


I wonder how long MS are happy to plough the cash in for? I’m still paying only £10.99 a year by adding on to gold so I’m loving it. I guess it’s the casuals they really need to hook in with a sub and forget mentality like Netflix.
 
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Kagey K

Banned
People don’t want to pay $15/month to month to play indies, decade old Halo games and simulate a 7 hour flight from JFK to Heathrow? I’m shocked!!
Well 37% more are paying now than they were last year.
No numbers? For all we know they hit 1% or %47 of the targeted 48%. Disappointing theres no numbers tho.

But rage on warriors 🤣🤣
Says growth was 37% instead of the targeted 48%
 

XXL

Member
I find this amusing.

I swear people constantly talk about how sales (especially vs consoles) don't matter and it's about hitting their internal targets and growing GamePass. Now they're missing internal targets for GamePass and that doesn't matter.
If You Say So Reaction GIF by Identity

It sounds like people need to get their stories straight.

The tone between this thread and when people thought GamePass was at 30M is.... something.
 
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zeorhymer

Member
Investors are stupid. All they care about is grow grow grow and none of them understands that what are you going to do when everyone already has one? The next logical step is to increase the price. It won't be long til MS raises it to $15 or even $20 a month.
 
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Concern

Member
Says the guy who has been banned twice the last couple of months?

smirk drinking GIF


Still working on that introspection? Well....these things take time.


Banned for saying the Ps5 end of the year line up consisted of timed exclusives lol. Its a legit criticism. But of course it hurt feelings, thats why you reported it. Also i got banned literally with no warnings on my account. Funny how I can criticize Xbox and its ok but Ps5 and its "warring".

Shouldn't point fingers tho when you've been banned consistently lol. But keep trolling 😉
 
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kyoji

Member
37% growth before the 1st party games even start releasing. :messenger_winking:

Sliding Champions League GIF by UEFA
But sir over the past year youve constantly reminded us that that wasnt the case, or was that a different person ? Im not sure how your statement is relevant anyway to the value of the service thats already there according to your previous thread starters.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Banned for saying the Ps5 end of the year line up consisted of timed exclusives lol. Its a legit criticism. But of course it hurt feelings, thats why you reported it. Also i got banned literally with no warnings on my account. Funny how I can criticize Xbox and its ok but Ps5 and its "warring".

Shouldn't point fingers tho when you've been banned consistently lol. But keep trolling 😉

Well....the truth and you are not on very good terms. I have never been banned (knock on wood). That's your problem though. You make up shit. Stop lying and make factual statements instead of talking out of your ass.

Why is that hard?

Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt Nasty
 
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Kacho

Member
Why not just get it on gamepass for now and then buy it later for $10? Then you get to keep the game and get all the other gamepass games to play......
Because I’m not interested in the other games and the sub payments add up over time. Game Pass is actually a worse deal in my case.
 

Kokoloko85

Member
Lol so many people in denial

For the 12 months that ended on June 30, Xbox Game Pass subscriber growth was up 37%, but the company had set a 48% growth goal.

Im guessing Board-members and executives are ecstatic… because they missed their target numbers
 
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Concern

Member
Well....the truth and you are not on very good terms. I have never been banned (knock on wood). That's your problem though. You make up shit. Stop lying and make factual statements instead of talking out of your ass.

Why is that hard?

Lying Simon Rex GIF by Simon Rex / Dirt Nasty


Yup making stuff up? You can literally see the posts. Yes you have, probably not in awhile. Unless im confusing you with another troll. But keep trying to antagonize people here 😉
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
Did you just quote me for shits and giggles, or are you hallucinating and seeing shit in my post that's not there? Kinda destroys your whole argument and exposes your pettiness/insecurities when you throw legitimate posts in there.
I have the data on why I quoted you, but I’m not sharing that right now.
 

Topher

Gold Member
Personally, I'm loving Game Pass. I use my MS Rewards points and I play all the games available as I wish. Love it. Does it satisfy everything? No. That's ok. I don't need it to.

Yup making stuff up? You can literally see the posts. Yes you have, probably not in awhile. Unless im confusing you with another troll. But keep trying to antagonize people here 😉

I'm antagonizing people?

irony GIF


Perhaps when the mods said you lacked "introspection" then you should have looked the word up. And yes, you literally just made up bullshit about me being banned "consistently". So you lied.
 
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Vasto

Member
But sir over the past year youve constantly reminded us that that wasnt the case, or was that a different person ? Im not sure how your statement is relevant anyway to the value of the service thats already there according to your previous thread starters.

I called it.


Rhyming Leonardo Dicaprio GIF
 

Genx3

Member
Investors are stupid. All they care about is grow grow grow and none of them understands that what are you going to do when everyone already has one? The next logical step is to increase the price. It won't be long til MS raises it to $15 or even $20 a month.

Wouldn't the next logical step be to get all customers paying the full $10/$15 per month for GP/GPU before increasing the price??
 

kyoji

Member
so ppl won't play xbox games because they will be too busy watching Xena on Tubi?
Did i say that? I said the app will be competing with other entertainment apps for peoples time and money just like anything else, so its not as cut and dry as to get a huge boost, which in reality it probably wont but theres no harm in still putting it out there.
 

Concern

Member
I'm antagonizing people?

irony GIF


Perhaps when the mods said you lacked "introspection" then you should have looked the word up. And yes, you literally just made up bullshit about me being banned "consistently". So you lied.

Continue trying to antagonize slipping little insults lol. Lacking self awareness like most. Continue replying, no sense having a pointless discussion with a troll. Good day 😉
 
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