Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service grows to 25 million subscribers

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service now has 25 million subscribers. That’s up from the 18 million Microsoft beforehand reported in January final yr. The Xbox Game Pass all-you-can-eat catalog of downloadable video games — or the “Netflix for video games” because it’s usually described — continues to draw new subscribers as Microsoft seems to increase the service.

As Microsoft’s subscriber numbers develop, so does the quantity of titles obtainable on Xbox Game Pass. In 2021, Xbox Game Pass added iconic Bethesda video games, with 20 in complete on the service, together with Dishonored, Doom, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and Wolfenstein.

Microsoft introduced the milestone whereas revealing its deliberate $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, which may have Activision CEO Bobby Kotick and its 10,000 staff reporting to Phil Spencer.

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The acquisition additionally bolsters Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with plans to launch Activision Blizzard video games into Game Pass, which has reached a brand new milestone of over 25 million subscribers. With Activision Blizzard’s practically 400 million month-to-month energetic gamers in 190 nations and three billion-dollar franchises, this acquisition will make Game Pass some of the compelling and various lineups of gaming content material within the business. Upon shut, Microsoft may have 30 inner sport growth studios, together with further publishing and esports manufacturing capabilities.

Spencer mentioned in a weblog publish that “we will offer as many Activision Blizzard games as we can within Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass, both new titles and games from Activision Blizzard’s incredible catalog.” There are not any specifics, however with the Warcraft, Call of Duty, Diablo, and Candy Crush manufacturers to select from — to call just a few — the service may have a whole lot of choices.

Microsoft has additionally been chasing sports activities followers over the previous yr with the addition of NBA 2K21, Madden NFL 21, NHL 21, and extra. Outriders additionally debuted on Xbox Game Pass final yr, and Microsoft added Flight Simulator to the service over the summer time. Microsoft additionally had an enormous Xbox Game Pass vacation, with Age of Empires IV, Forza Horizon 5, and Halo Infinite launching day one on the service.

Microsoft has additionally been engaged on extending the place Xbox Game Pass is obtainable, because of Xbox Game Streaming. An online model of Xbox Cloud Gaming (previously Project xCloud) was made extensively obtainable to gamers on iOS and PC final summer time, and Microsoft began rolling the service out to Xbox consoles in November. This will permit newer video games, like Microsoft Flight Simulator, to be streamed and performed on older Xbox consoles too, because the service is absolutely powered by Xbox Series X {hardware}.