High on Life is currently the most popular game on Xbox Game Pass

Despite a mixed critical reception, Squanch Games’ FPS High on Life is currently the most popular game on Xbox Game Pass.

On both console and PC, the comedic shooter currently holds the top spot, above the likes of Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, FIFA 22, and Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.

That suggests plenty of Game Pass users have decided to give the game a try as part of their subscription. However, it also seems to be selling well at full price, with Xbox’s sales rankings placing it in fifth.

This is despite the distinctly mixed critical reception from media outlets at the time of release. Currently, High on Life has a 63 and 67 on Metacritic, with credible outlets such as PC Gamer (4/10), PCGamesN (5/10) and The Guardian (2/5) publishing negative reviews.

Other respected publications such as IGN (8/10) and Gamespot (7/10) published more favourable verdicts, but still not the kind of reviews typically associated with a best seller.

At the time of publishing, the title has positive Metacritic user scores on both Xbox (8.2) and PC (7.8).

A Microsoft survey recently suggested that the company could introduce a cheaper, ad-supported tier of Xbox Game Pass.

The survey appears to ask whether players would be willing to pay lower amounts than the standard Xbox Game Pass monthly fee, in exchange for some limitations on the subscription.

One option would see players pay a lower fee, but have access to first-party Xbox titles on a delay, which could be as much as 6 months. A reduced tier could also see integrated ads as part of the service, however, it’s not clear how these ads would manifest.