Regulators in Brazil have revealed how much Microsoft made from Xbox Game Pass on consoles in 2021, and it’s a pretty sizeable figure.
As spotted by Tweaktown, Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defence (CADE) recently approved Microsoft’s proposed $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and in outlining its rationale shared some pretty interesting tidbits – including how much cash Microsoft’s game subscription service raked in last year.
Breaking down how much Xbox Game Pass earns on consoles compared to some rivals, CADE revealed that the service generated $2.9 billion in 2021 alone. According to CADE, that information was provided by Microsoft itself.
As the chart below shows, that’s significantly more than rivals EA and Nintendo earned from their own subscription options – although it should be noted that both companies offer different propositions to Game Pass, which provides access to an expansive library of first and third party content.
Putting that into context, Xbox revenue totalled $16.28 billion during the 2021 fiscal year, meaning Xbox Game Revenue represented around 18 percent of that amount.
Again, it’s worth noting that the $2.9 billion figure shared by CADE doesn’t include Xbox Game Pass for PC revenue, so the services’ actual value to Microsoft will likely be much higher than indicated by CADE.
In terms of how that spending shakes out in the context of subscribers, Tweaktown notes that Game Pass subscribers were somewhere in the 15 million to 18 million ballpark based on official figures provided around the time.
Microsoft has bolstered its subscriber count since then, however, and in January this year revealed the service boasted over 25 million subscribers.