Microsoft will not have any major announcements for its premium subscription service, Xbox Game Pass, during the second half of December, 2022.
According to the community social marketing representative for Xbox Game Pass, Megan McGamePass, there will be no further game announcements for the premium subscription service during the second half of December, 2022.
Megan shared this information on Discord (via umqualquer2022), though she assured Xbox Game Pass subscribers that she’ll be back with further updates in January, 2023. Not a huge deal breaker, then, though fans may have been anticipating a surprise announcement or two from Xbox Game Pass during the holiday season.
That said, this is a great opportunity for Xbox Game Pass subscribers to show some love to the games that will be leaving the service by the end of 2022. The bigger name on the list is Scarlet Nexus, a brand-new JRPG from Bandai Namco. Another popular game that is on its way out is The Outer Wilds, a game that had been removed from the service in the past but did make its way back. It will be removed once again on December 31. There is still plenty of time to play this interesting indie gem, so be sure to give it a try before it is gone from the subscription service.
Previously, it was revealed that Microsoft has missed out on the forecasted subscriber target for Xbox Game Pass, by 10 Million subscribers. In its response to the CMA’s issues statement published on 14 October 2022, Microsoft has stated that it has fallen short of hitting its estimated subscriber target for Xbox Game Pass by 10 Million subscribers.
According to Microsoft, Game Pass accounted for less than 5% by value of digital distribution of gaming content globally. Even just looking at multi–game subscription services alone, it is Sony which is larger in revenues today. Since its launch in 2017, Game Pass has gradually grown to approximately 25 million subscribers. As mentioned above, this is 10 million fewer subscribers (28%) than what was forecasted by the company for Fiscal Year 2022.
