Xbox Game Pass Hit Nearly $5 Billion in Revenue for the First Time in FY 2025, Microsoft Says

Xbox Game Pass generated nearly $5 billion (roughly Rs. 43,791 crore) in revenue over the past year, Microsoft confirmed at its fourth-quarter FY 2025 earnings call on Wednesday. The company said its game subscription service had performed better than its expectations in fiscal year 2025 that ended June 30. The Xbox parent did not share an update on Game Pass subscription growth, but the service was confirmed to have hit 34 million subscribers in February 2024.

Xbox Game Pass Revenue Reaches Nearly $5 Billion

At the earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recapped Xbox's year and announced that that company had reached 500 million monthly active users across platforms and devices. The executive shared an update on big franchises like Call of Duty and Minecraft and announced the Game Pass revenue milestone.

“The Call of Duty franchise has never been stronger: 50 million people have played Black Ops 6. Total hours surpassed 2 billion,” Nadella said during the call.

“Minecraft saw record monthly active usage and revenue this quarter, thanks in large part to the success of the Minecraft movie.

“And we have nearly 40 games in development, so much, much more to come.

“We surpassed over 500 million hours of game play streamed via the cloud this year.

“And Game Pass annual revenue was nearly $5 billion for the first time.”

Nadella also confirmed that Microsoft was the top publisher on both Xbox and PlayStation platforms in the fourth quarter and hailed the “successful” launches of Forza Horizon 5 (on PS5) and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.

Nadella's remarks on Microsoft's success on rival platforms as a publisher barely come as a suprise. Last week, market analytics firm Alinea Analytics reported that Forza Horizon 5 was the best-selling game on PS5 in 2025. Sony, too, confirmed earlier that Forza, Oblivion Remastered, and Minecraft — all Xbox first-party games — were the three best-selling titles on PlayStation Store in the EU and the US in April.

Microsoft Gaming, Xbox Services Grow

During the quarterly earnings call, Microsoft CFO Amy Hood said that both first-party titles and Xbox Game Pass performed better than expected in FY 2025, driving 10 percent growth in Gaming revenue. Xbox content and services revenue also grew 13 percent (12 percent in constant currency), Hood said.

Even as Microsoft's Gaming division has seen growth, Xbox was hit with devastating cuts early this month that saw widespread layoffs, studio shutdowns, and project cancellations. The latest round of retrenchment saw nearly four percent of Microsoft's total workforce — over 9,000 employees — laid off.

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer had said at the time that the Xbox platform had “never looked stronger”, but future success required “tough decisions”.

“I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games, and gaming hours than ever before. Our platform, hardware, and game roadmap have never looked stronger,” Spencer had said in an internal memo to staff. “The success we're seeing currently is based on tough decisions we've made previously. We must make choices now for continued success in future years and a key part of that strategy is the discipline to prioritize the strongest opportunities.”

Game Pass, meanwhile, has seen some high-profile additions over the past year, including Call of Duty. This year, the service has added acclaimed titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, The Alters and Atomfall, in addition to popular first-party titles like Doom: The Dark Ages, Avowed, Grounded 2, and Oblivion Remastered.