When the Redmond-based tech giant launched Xbox Game Pass in 2017, there was a bit of skepticism, but since then the subscription service has become quite a household name.

Over the past eight years, gamers have embraced the subscription model, which has generated some serious revenue in recent years, although the system has changed considerably in the meantime, with the successor to Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass Core, then the middle tier, Xbox Game Pass Standard, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which also offers access to recent releases and allows you to play games from the cloud (Xbox Cloud Gaming). Rumor has it that Microsoft is also planning to add a fourth ad-supported tier.

Timur222 spotted on Twitter that Richie Choudhary, former Xbox product manager, revealed on LinkedIn that from 2019 to 2021, Xbox Game Pass has generated $2 billion in annual revenue for Microsoft. That’s certainly an impressive number, though it doesn’t tell us much about the sustainability of the subscription service, since there’s no data on profits.

Old but interesting
Xbox Game Pass used to make $2 billion a year in revenue#Xbox pic.twitter.com/N5VEc0EBjH

— Timur222 (@bogorad222) April 4, 2025

Xbox Game Pass offers a lot of value to gamers, but it is bound to cause a significant drop in sales, because if a game is available through the subscription, not many people will go on to buy it at full price. It was revealed earlier this year that each game available as part of the subscription service library is expected to lose around 80% of expected sales on Xbox, or slightly less if it is a major mainstream release.

However, some games, such as multiplayer titles, will benefit from being made available as part of the Game Pass service, as an increase in players on Xbox could have a positive impact on PlayStation console sales. The service also makes it easier for some developers to get players to try their games. And Xbox Game Pass has become a key part of Microsoft’s gaming strategy to attract more gamers to the Xbox ecosystem, regardless of device.

How much profit did it make?

Source: WCCFTech