During its fourth-quarter FY 2025 earnings call on Wednesday, Microsoft reported that Xbox Game Pass generated nearly $5 billion (approximately Rs. 43,791 crore) in revenue over the past year. The gaming subscription service exceeded the company’s expectations for the fiscal year that concluded on June 30. While Microsoft did not provide specific figures regarding subscriber growth, it was noted that Game Pass reached 34 million subscribers in February 2024.
Revenue for Xbox Game Pass Approaches $5 Billion Mark
In the earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella provided an overview of Xbox’s performance, highlighting the achievement of 500 million monthly active users across various platforms and devices. He also updated stakeholders on popular franchises such as Call of Duty and Minecraft while announcing the impressive revenue milestone for Game Pass.
“The Call of Duty franchise is thriving, with 50 million players experiencing Black Ops 6, accumulating over 2 billion hours of play,” Nadella stated during the call.
“Minecraft has reached record levels of monthly active users and revenue this quarter, significantly driven by the success of the Minecraft movie.”
Nadella added, “With nearly 40 games in development, there is much more to anticipate. We recorded over 500 million hours of gameplay streamed via the cloud this year, and Game Pass achieved close to $5 billion in annual revenue for the first time.”
Additionally, Nadella confirmed that Microsoft emerged as the leading publisher on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms in the fourth quarter, celebrating the successful launches of titles like Forza Horizon 5 (on PS5) and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
Market analytics firm Alinea Analytics indicated last week that Forza Horizon 5 was the best-selling game on PS5 for 2025. Sony also reported that Forza, Oblivion Remastered, and Minecraft—the top-selling titles on PlayStation Store in both the EU and US for April—were all Xbox first-party games.
Growth in Microsoft Gaming and Xbox Services
During the earnings call, CFO Amy Hood noted that both first-party titles and Xbox Game Pass outperformed expectations in FY 2025, contributing to a 10 percent increase in Gaming revenue. Additionally, Xbox content and services revenue grew by 13 percent (12 percent in constant currency), according to Hood.
Despite this positive growth in Microsoft’s Gaming division, Xbox faced significant challenges earlier this month, resulting in widespread layoffs, studio closures, and project cancellations. This recent round of layoffs impacted nearly four percent of Microsoft’s workforce, amounting to over 9,000 employees.
Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, mentioned at that time that the Xbox platform had “never looked stronger,” although he acknowledged that achieving future success would necessitate “tough decisions.”
“I understand that these changes occur when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never been more robust,” Spencer communicated in an internal memo to staff. “The current success derives from difficult choices made in the past. We need to make strategic decisions now for sustained success in the years ahead, focusing on the strongest opportunities.”
Over the past year, Game Pass has welcomed several high-profile titles, including Call of Duty. In 2023, the service incorporated acclaimed games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, The Alters, and Atomfall, along with popular first-party offerings such as Doom: The Dark Ages, Avowed, Grounded 2, and Oblivion Remastered.
