It’s no secret that Microsoft has spent the last few years pushing for players to join Xbox Game Pass. With its line-up of incredible titles, alongside the Cloud Gaming function that was added to the Ultimate tier, Game Pass is being advertised as the easiest and most accessible way for players to experience the best gaming has to offer. The service clearly appeals to a range of players, with millions using Game Pass on a monthly basis.
That success has only grown thanks to the phenomenal updates to Game Pass in 2024. The number of new games added to the service, including a handful of major titles being available at launch, has helped to broaden the appeal of Game Pass to a wide range of players. However, this incredible performance may have come at a price, as Microsoft faces a new challenge to maintain that momentum in 2025. And, unfortunately, it might be a challenge that Microsoft can’t overcome.
Xbox Game Pass Had An Incredible 2024 – Despite A Price Hike
A Killer End To A Strong Year
It might be hard to believe the success Game Pass has seen in 2024, considering some of the more controversial changes introduced. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced a major restructure of the Game Pass tiers, replacing the Game Pass for Consoles tier with a Standard tier that omitted access to day one releases, while also introducing major price hikes across several tiers, setting the premium Ultimate tier to a whopping $19.99 per month. This major change was certainly a setback for the service, as Game Pass became less of a viable purchase to many.
Luckily, Microsoft compensated for the price hike with some of the biggest new additions seen to Game Pass in its history. The last 3 months alone have seen Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl, and Indiana Jones & The Great Circle, some of the most highly-anticipated titles of the year, make their way to Game Pass on day one. Alongside many other additions across 2024, these releases were not only a welcome addition to the service but a necessity to assure players that they would still be offered major titles on Game Pass, making the price hike easier to digest.
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Beyond this, additions like Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones were important steps in broadening the appeal of Game Pass, reiterating the service’s status as the premier location for the latest and greatest titles on offer. Some of these Game Pass additions clearly paid off, and Microsoft boss Satya Nadella announced during an earnings report that Black Ops 6 broke the record for most “Game Pass subscriber adds on launch day“, as reported by Eurogamer. Xbox reported a total of 34 million subscribers in February 2024, and even with price hikes, record-breaking sign-ups might make that number even higher now.
2025 Doesn’t Have The Same Exciting Releases For Xbox
Some Of The Biggest Titles Are Heading Elsewhere
As incredible as Xbox Game Pass’s success was in 2024, it puts a lot of pressure on the service moving forward. With such consistently huge releases being added to Game Pass, there will naturally be huge expectations from subscribers that the service can contain that momentum heading into the new year. Unfortunately, Game Pass’s current line-up for 2025 makes those expectations seem impossible to achieve.
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Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be missing out on some of the biggest games releasing in 2025, including major titles such as Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Ghost of Yōtei, which will be exclusive to Nintendo Switch and PS5 respectively. Moreover, Grand Theft Auto 6, 2025’s biggest gaming release, will not be making its way to Game Pass, as confirmed by Take Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick. The lack of such important releases will certainly make Game Pass’s demanding fees more difficult to justify.
Nintendo’s successor to the Switch is also expected in 2025, so more major Nintendo exclusives are likely on the horizon.
Game Pass subscribers won’t be entirely without major games to try out in 2025. The next year should see the release of some huge titles, including Doom: The Dark Ages and the long-awaited Fable reboot, both of which will be added to Game Pass on day one. However, despite having a lot to look forward to, it’ll be hard for Game Pass to surpass the phenomenal performance it achieved in 2024. With such huge games releasing on the service, 2024 will be the standard that Xbox Game Pass will work towards in the future.
Source: Eurogamer, Microsoft