Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live With Record-breaking Results
Microsoft has boasted that Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass services have achieved record results in terms of number of users.
Microsoft has reasons to be pleased. The latest financial report of the corporation shows that its gaming services are doing great. Xbox Live has 90 million active users, and the number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers has exceeded 10 million.
A year ago, the number of people using Xbox Live was 65 million, which means that across twelve months the population of users has grown significantly. A key role was probably played by the coronovirus, because of which people spend more time at home, but still the scale of the growth is impressive.
It is also worth noting that for the first time Microsoft reported a specific number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers. This shows the growing importance of the service in the company's finances.
In the first quarter of this year, the revenue of the entire Xbox division of Microsoft recorded a decrease of 1% compared to the same period of 2019, but this is due to the fact that the sales of consoles and accessories suffered a 20% drop. Services and games alone recorded a 2% increase.
Going beyond digital entertainment, it should be mentioned that revenues of the whole Microsoft amounted to 35 billion dollars, which is 15% more than in the first three months of 2019. In turn, operating profit increased by 25%, reaching 13 billion dollars.
It is also worth noting that the Microsoft Teams service, used for remote work and communication, is currently used by 75 million people every day. In March it was only 44 million. The one responsible for such a huge leap is obviously the coronavirus.
Let's recall that the Game Pass subscription is available in three versions: on PCs, Xbox One family consoles and the Ultimate version combining the first two solutions. After paying for a monthly subscription, the suggested price of which is $4.99 (PC) or $9.99 (consoles), we get the possibility to download dozens of games included in the constantly updated library of new and slightly older titles, as well as a discount on shopping in the Microsoft Store. If you haven't used the Xbox Game Pass yet, you can buy the Ultimate subscription for as little as $1 for the first month here. Game Pass subscribers also get all exclusive productions from Microsoft's in-house devteams such as Ninja Theory and 343 Industries on the day of release.
