Xbox Game Pass is growing, but it needs Halo and other blockbusters

Microsoft’s most recent SEC filing provided an insight into the growth of Xbox Game Pass. The subscription service saw a 38% increase in total subscribers compared to Microsoft’s last fiscal year. While that is impressive growth for a year without a Halo-like exclusive, it does come up short of Microsoft’s internal target of 48% growth. And this illustrates how important those major blockbuster releases are to Xbox Game Pass. And it shows why the company has spent so much on acquisitions.

Microsoft was expecting slower growth overall for fiscal 2021. In fiscal 2020, Xbox Game Pass grew 86%, which outpaced the internal target of 71%. But with no Halo and few other standout marquee releases or exclusives for Game Pass during this reporting period, the company knew that Game Pass wouldn’t replicate that 2020 expansion in 2021.