Xbox Game Pass is in an impossible position for 2025

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Xbox Game Pass is in an impossible position for 2025

It's no secret that Microsoft has spent the last few years pushing for gamers to join Xbox Game Pass. With its lineup of incredible titles, along with the Cloud Gaming feature that has been added to the Ultimate tier, Game Pass is being heralded as the easiest and most affordable way for gamers to experience the best that gaming has to offer. The service clearly attracts a variety of gamers, with millions of people using Game Pass monthly.

This success has only grown thanks to the phenomenal updates to Game Pass in 2024. The number of new games added to the service, including a handful of major titles available at launch, has helped broaden Game Pass's appeal to a wide range. of players. However, That incredible performance may have come at a priceas Microsoft faces a new challenge to maintain that momentum into 2025. And unfortunately, it may be a challenge that Microsoft won't be able to overcome.

Xbox Game Pass had an incredible 2024 – despite price increases

A killer end to a strong year

It may be hard to believe how successful Game Pass has been in 2024, considering some of the more controversial changes introduced. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a major restructuring of Game Pass tiers, replacing the Game Pass for Consoles tier with a Standard tier that omitted access to day one releases, while also introducing large price increases across several tiers. , setting the Ultimate premium tier to a whopping $19.99 per month. This big change was certainly a setback for the service, as Game Pass became a less viable purchase for many.

Fortunately, Microsoft made up for the price increase with some of the biggest additions to Game Pass in its history. Only in the last 3 months have we seen Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and Indiana Jones and the Great CircleSome of the most anticipated titles of the year arrive on Game Pass on day one. Along with many other additions in 2024, these releases were not only a welcome addition to the service, but a necessity to assure players that they would still receive important titles on Game Pass, making the price increase easier to digest.

Furthermore, additions such as Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones These were important steps towards broadening the appeal of Game Pass, reiterating the service's status as the premier place for the latest and greatest titles on offer. Some of these additions to Game Pass have clearly paid off, and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella announced during an earnings report that Black Ops 6 broke the record for most “Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day“, as reported by Eurogamer. Xbox reported a total of 34 million subscribers as of February 2024, and even with price increases, record signups could make that number even higher now.

2025 doesn't have the same exciting Xbox releases

Some of the biggest titles are going elsewhere


The Fable protagonist on the left, the South of Midnight protagonist in the middle, and an Avowed skeleton on the right.

As incredible as the success of Xbox Game Pass has been in 2024, This puts a lot of pressure on service advancement. With consistently big releases being added to Game Pass, there will naturally be high expectations from subscribers that the service can contain this momentum heading into the new year. Unfortunately, Game Pass' current schedule for 2025 makes these expectations seem impossible to achieve.

Xbox Game Pass subscribers will miss out on some of the biggest games releasing in 2025including important titles such as Pokémon Legends: ZA and Yotei's Ghostwhich will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch and PS5 respectively. Furthermore, Grand Theft Auto 6, The biggest game launch of 2025 will not be coming to Game Pass, as confirmed by Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick. The lack of such major releases will certainly make Game Pass' demanding fees harder to justify.

Game Pass subscribers won't be completely without important games to try in 2025. Next year should see the release of some huge titles, including Perdition: The Dark Ages and the long awaited Fable reboot, both will be added to Game Pass on day one. However, despite having a lot to look forward to, it will be difficult for Game Pass to top the phenomenal performance it achieved in 2024. With such big games launching on the service, 2024 will be the standard that Xbox Game Pass we will work on in the future.

Source: Eurogamer, Microsoft

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