The two market leaders, Xbox and PlayStation, alongside other competition like Nintendo, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts, among others, might want to sell you their respective subscription services, proudly telling everyone about their year-on-year growth. But, it appears that, just like their counterparts in the music and movie industries, their growth might have already reached a plateau.
With companies like Microsoft not releasing subscriber numbers since January 2022 and the overall subscription market accounting for only about 10% of annual video game spending in the U.S., questions arise about the future trajectory of these services.
Xbox Game Pass, a key player in this domain, had reached 25 million subscribers in early 2022. An employee's LinkedIn profile hinted at 30 million subscribers, but there was a quick retraction, leaving ambiguity about the actual figures. As we go deeper into 2024, Omdia analysts, in a recent interview with IGN, estimate that the popular gaming subscription service had approximately 33.3 million users by the end of 2023. Despite impressive growth, there was a slight decline in the growth rate compared to the previous year. The majority of these subscribers are on the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier, which offers device-agnostic access.