A new Bloomberg report, based on interviews with former Microsoft employees, has added fuel to the speculation surrounding the long-term viability of Game Pass. The report includes Microsoft’s own alleged internal estimate that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 lost $300 million in potential sales revenue due to its day-one inclusion on the subscription service. Unlike the publicly accessible metrics of platforms like Steam, Game Pass operates as a black box, with its health only glimpsed through periodic updates from Microsoft or insider reports. This opacity exists alongside a steady stream of mass layoffs and studio closures at Xbox, raising questions about the service’s actual performance despite claims of its growing popularity.
The $300 million figure, cited by an employee speaking to Bloomberg, was an internal estimate never intended for public view. This context suggests it was likely a sophisticated projection aimed at accuracy for internal planning, rather than an inflated number for public relations. Kotaku provided some perspective on this figure, calculating that to offset this loss, Game Pass would have needed 15 million new Ultimate-tier subscribers for one month or 1.25 million for an entire year. This is a significant number, considering Microsoft’s last reported subscriber count was 34 million in early 2024, a figure that has not been updated since.
Complicating the narrative, IGN reported that Black Ops 6 not only set a new sales record for the series but also drove a record number of new Game Pass subscriptions in a single day. However, the Bloomberg report highlights a critical detail: 82% of the full-price sales for the game occurred on PlayStation 5, even though this was the first Call of Duty released as a Microsoft-owned property. With Microsoft keeping the full story of Game Pass’s health under wraps, we at Digital Tech Explorer are left to interpret its public actions. The recent studio closures and price hikes, particularly on Game Pass itself, leave ongoing concerns for the health of the wider gaming industry, which is increasingly consolidated under Microsoft and Sony. This continues to support the perspective that the industry is paying the price for Microsoft’s big bet on Game Pass.
Related Gaming Content from Digital Tech Explorer
