Is Game Pass for Microsoft profitable? It looks like that. Although not so simple – Indian

Conducted long discussions about whether it is Game Pass For Microsoft, profitable. In the end, the technological giant gives its games on the day of release (including from Bethesdy and Activision Blizzard) and adds interesting names of other companies and independent developers.

There is no official information from Microsoft. We don’t even know how many people are currently paying. The last official number 34 millionThis field was written in February 2024. Journalist Christopher Dring from the game business decided to see everything.

Dringe addressed Microsoft more than a year ago to find out what is actually taken into account in the costs associated with the work of Game Pass. He learned that the fees include third parties (i.e., developers whose games will appear as part of the service), marketing costs and general operating expenses. But what surprised me to The balance does not include the costs of first -class namesIE IE Games belonging to Microsoft.

According to Dringing, this suggests that Game Pass can act as profitable service on paper, but only from a specific method of internal accounting. In other words, Game Pass services can succeed, but they can also advance the margin of their own research, which earn less or even at all. But do not comment, read on.

Microsoft avoids a direct answer to the question of how much the game is actually earning. We received the last specific data in 2021, when the company had to publish some information from the acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Since then he has been silent.

Thanks to obtaining information about the acquisition and behind -senes, we know that Microsoft will invest a billion dollars a year in a game pass to put third party games in it. Yes, Billion dollars a year are concluded only for contracts with partnersThis message was even confirmed by Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft Gaming. They also say that From the output of Game Pass, the game is up to 80 % of direct salesThe field in this case, however, these are different tests.