Xbox Game Pass Took Half the Time in Comparison to Netflix and Spotify to Reach the 10 Million Subscriber Milestone

Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s answer to the subscription-based trend seen in the entertainment industry. Xbox Game Pass has become a staple for every PC and Xbox gamer, offering an expansive list of games and continually adding more titles to the library. The growing popularity of the Game Pass has led to the company accumulating over 10 million subscribers since its inception.

Netflix and Spotify come under the entertainment streaming services, with Netflix dominating the video streaming industry and Spotify being the music streaming one. That being said, the gaming industry was waiting for a player to jump in on the subscription model. While Xbox Game Pass was launched in 2017, its popularity has picked up tenfold.

Xbox Game Pass reaches 10 million subscribers in half the time compared to Spotify

Xbox Game Pass has experienced remarkable success in acquiring subscribers, surpassing both Netflix and Spotify in subscriber acquisition. Game Pass’s growth stands out notably as it outperformed both Netflix and Spotify, which experts consider “First-To-Market” mainstream services, making them suitable points of comparison. While Netflix took 12 years and Spotify took 6, the Game Pass achieved this feat only 3 years after its launch.

Netflix announced that it had reached over 10 million subscribers back in 2009. Similarly, Spotify achieved 10 million paying subscribers worldwide back in 2014. A ratio of three free users for every paying subscriber marked this significant growth of the service.

Problems that subscription models face

Microsoft always planned to the Xbox Game Pass as a subscription-based service for gamers. That was not the case for Netflix. Netflix started off as a DVD rental service, it then aggressively expanded into the emerging market of delivering films to TVs and other devices via the internet. Evolving consumer preferences for streaming content drove this transformation, positioning Netflix as one of the pioneering platforms for streaming TV shows and movies.

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Spotify on the other hand jumped into an already saturated market with other services like Deezer and Google Play Music All Access already existing in the market.

While competition is something every company will face, there are other underlying issues that make this business a little difficult. Licensing content for all the aforementioned platforms is usually expensive and can cost millions of dollars.

Although Netflix and Spotify have been around for over a decade and more, the Game Pass is rapidly catching up pace. While subscription models are currently operating in full force, Xbox Game Pass is expected to surpass the two streaming behemoths in the future.

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