The total number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers has reportedly fallen back to 30 million, a decrease of approximately 4 million from publicly shared figures earlier in 2024, according to a new report by The Wall Street Journal. Microsoft has ceased the regular publication of exact subscriber numbers, making this reported decline a significant development.
This current figure of 30 million falls considerably short of Microsoft's stated goal of reaching 77 million subscribers by July 2026. This objective was revealed during the US Federal Trade Commission's investigation into Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023, which also highlighted an even more ambitious internal target of 100 million paid Game Pass members by 2030.
Last year, Microsoft implemented a price increase for Game Pass Ultimate, raising it by nearly 50 percent and restructuring some of the service's tiers. While not explicitly stated by the company, this move was widely interpreted as a precursor to including Call of Duty titles in the service from day one of their release. However, the price hike appears to have negatively impacted subscriber numbers, with Microsoft acknowledging that it led to the loss of millions of users.
In an effort to address this, Microsoft adjusted its strategy in April. The company reduced the price of Game Pass and removed day-one access for new Call of Duty games, which now join the service one year after their initial launch. This decision was among the first made by new Xbox CEO Asha Sharma. Internal memos from Sharma have previously discussed the challenges of Game Pass's declining membership and its high cost.
Sharma again cited Game Pass's growth issues as a contributing factor to the recent decision to lay off 3,200 employees from the Xbox division. In a memo to staff, she stated that the service "did not grow at the pace we expected."
While often compared to a Netflix-style model for gaming, Game Pass has faced criticism from competitors like PlayStation, which has described the service as "value destructive." Some game developers, however, have contested this assessment. PlayStation's own subscription service, PlayStation Plus, typically does not feature new releases on day one, focusing instead on providing access to older titles and classic games.