Microsoft is sticking to its strategy of turning Game Pass into the ultimate deal for gamers. But how many players can a day-one title reach? Here are some numbers.
The data was shared in Simon Carless’ GameDisoverCo newsletter. The estimates are based on publicly available info including charts, achievements, and review counts.
- In 2022, more than 50 titles launched on Game Pass on day one. The medium owner number for them is 230k.
- 500k people play these titles on average. But, as Carless pointed out, “that’s probably not the right way to look at it.”
- Even the 230k median looks impressive, especially for indie developers who want to reach a wider audience with their titles.
- Carless also shared numbers for some of the 2022 Game Pass day-one releases. For example, PowerWash Simulator has over 2 million owners, which is almost 9 times the median number.
- Pac-Man Museum+ has 960k owners on Game Pass, which is huge compared to its estimated sales on Steam of 10k units.
- There are also some indie titles like Tunic (930k owners) and Nobody Saves the World (580k owners) that also resonate with the Game Pass audience.
With these numbers in mind, Game Pass looks like a great deal for developers to expand the reach of their titles. However, it is still unclear if Microsoft’s subscription service can deliver a high retention and engagement, since users might launch one of the hundreds of games available, play it for a few minutes, and never get back to it.
Simon Carless also announced the GameDiscover Pro site, which will collect and analyze data for PC, Xbox, PlayStation, and (in future) Nintendo Switch titles. The service, aimed at medium and big developers and publishers, is expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2022, or in early 2023.
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In January, Microsoft announced that Xbox Game Pass had surpassed 25 million subscribers. The company plans to add more big games to it on day one, including upcoming titles like Starfield, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, Persona 5 Royal, and Atomic Heart.
Game Pass’ library will become even bigger when Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard closes next year. For example, Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects the service to reach 100 million subscribers.