Xbox Game Pass has been a hot topic since its launch in 2017, sometimes for positive reasons, though increasingly for negative or, at the very least, mixed reasons. Through all its trials and tribulations, though, Microsoft and Xbox put itself on the Game Pass path, and have shown no signs of wanting to pivot. In fact, according to ID@Xbox, in 2025, Microsoft and Xbox are putting more behind Game Pass than ever before.
In an interview with Eurogamer, head of Xbox’s ID@Xbox program, Chris Charla, spoke about how Xbox is investing more in Game Pass in 2025 than it ever has.
“The majority of partners who’ve had a game in Game Pass want to bring their future titles to the service,” Charla said. “As a result, we’ve signed deals with more than 150 partners to expand the catalogue. We continue to engage with hundreds of partners each year to review upcoming titles.”
“Last year, we worked with over 50 teams to sign their first Game Pass deal. This year marks our largest investment in Game Pass to date, and we remain focused on delivering the most exciting and diverse catalogue in gaming.”
All things considered, it’s not surprising to see Microsoft continuing to double down on Xbox Game Pass. Despite numerous comments from multiple former Xbox Studios developers, analyst reports, and examples we’ve seen of just how much Xbox is putting into every game it brings to the service, the latest financial reports from Microsoft show that Xbox revenue is growing. Game Pass brings in $5 billion a year, according to Microsoft.
It may have deeper ramifications for the industry and the games on the service, as has been pointed out several times, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a time when Microsoft was more concerned with the deeper cultural ramifications of an area of its business than how well that business was performing on its bank sheet.
The future of the Xbox platform has been tied to Xbox Game Pass since 2017, and at least in the near future, it doesn’t look like that’s going to change.