Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer in an interview with Variety stated Xbox Game Pass isn’t for everyone.

“It’s not for everybody,” said Spencer. “If you play one or two games a year, Game Pass probably isn’t the right business model for you; you should just buy those two games, and that would make total sense. But I want you to have the choice. So we remain focused on everything that’s on Game Pass is also available to buy.

“I’ve always thought about Game Pass as just another option for somebody who wants to play. We have many business models for people playing from free-to-play, buying games, discounted games–Game Pass is an option.

“So when I’m looking at Game Pass, I want to make sure the hours that people are playing continue to go up, that new people see this as a way for them to find and build their library of games, and we remain focused on that.”

Spencer did not say how many people are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, however, he did say the number of hours people are playing on Xbox “continues to grow fairly substantially,” partly due to Game Pass.

“Game Pass has been an important part of that, but I don’t try to solve for Game Pass specifically on its own. It’s kind of part of the equation for Xbox finding new players,” he stated.

The last update on the number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers came in February 2024, which was 34 million subscribers. This was before Activision Blizzard games started coming to the service.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D’Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.

Full Article – https://www.vgchartz.com/article/464492/xbox-boss-phil-spencer-says-xbox-game-pass-is-not-for-everybody/