Xbox Game Pass Sets New Subscription Record With Starfield Release

Highlights

Starfield's release helped Xbox Game Pass achieve a record number of new subscribers in a single day, highlighting the success of both the game and the subscription service.

The game achieved a remarkable milestone, attracting a staggering 10 million players within a mere two weeks of its launch. This accomplishment solidified its position as the fastest game ever released by Bethesda to reach such a massive player base.

According to Microsoft's financial report, the release of Starfield had a significant impact on the growth of Xbox Game Pass. The game garnered an impressive 11 million players in its lifetime, with nearly half of the total playing hours accumulated on PC. Additionally, the success of the game resulted in a noticeable boost to Xbox content and services revenue.

Microsoft has announced that Starfield's success has contributed to a record-breaking number of new subscribers for Xbox Game Pass in just one day. This adds to the growing evidence of Starfield's historic achievement within the popular subscription service. Following its release in early September, Bethesda's latest game offered a five-day early access period for those who purchased higher-tier versions or upgraded their Xbox Game Pass subscription to the Digital Premium Edition. Within two weeks, Starfield reached an impressive milestone of 10 million players, making it the fastest game from Bethesda to achieve this feat.

As part of Microsoft's Q1 FY2024 consolidated financial report, it was announced that Starfield contributed to Xbox Game Pass achieving a new milestone with the highest number of subscribers added in a single day. Microsoft CFO Amy Hood confirmed this achievement during an earnings call on October 24, highlighting that this record was set on September 6, coinciding with the global release of Starfield. Hood further mentioned that Starfield's popularity continued to grow throughout October, with the game now boasting over 11 million lifetime players.

Microsoft has not released a detailed breakdown of the RPG's performance on different platforms, as they usually do. However, it was mentioned that almost half of the game's total playing hours were on PC. Starfield not only significantly increased Xbox Game Pass subscriptions, but also performed well in terms of traditional sales, according to an independent market report from late October. The report indicated that Xbox Game Pass did not hinder Starfield's exceptional sales, particularly in the United States.

In a broader sense, Microsoft's gaming business had a successful quarter, with a 9% increase in revenue despite a 7% decline in hardware turnover, primarily from console sales. This growth was mainly driven by first-party game sales and Xbox Game Pass memberships, resulting in a 13% increase in Xbox content and services revenue.

Hood described the quarterly growth of Microsoft's subscription service as exceeding expectations, implying that the platform has achieved satisfactory performance according to the company. It is worth noting that Xbox Game Pass did not meet its subscriber targets in the past. A less optimistic interpretation of Hood's statement is that Microsoft lowered its internal goals until the service could achieve them. It is noteworthy that this is the first year in the last three where CEO Satya Nadella's compensation is not influenced by Xbox Game Pass growth, adding some circumstantial evidence to this theory.

Starfield can now be accessed on PC and Xbox Series X/S.

Source: Microsoft (DOCX)