Microsoft says Starfield’s release was Game Pass’s biggest-ever new subs day

Starfield generated the highest single-day add of Game Pass Subscribers in the history of the service, Microsoft has claimed.

The news was shared during Microsoft’s latest earnings call for the Q1 period covering July to September, which includes the release of the much-anticipated RPG.

“We released Starfield this quarter to broad acclaim,” CEO Satya Nadella said during the call. “More than 11 million people have played the game to date. Nearly half of hours played have been on PC, and on launch day, we set a record for the most Game Pass subscriptions added on a single day ever.”

Starfield was the best-selling game in the US in September. The game was available day-one on Xbox Game Pass, incentivising users to sign up for the subscription service.

In addition to the full price version of the game, many players also purchased the Deluxe Edition upgrade for Starfield, which allowed them to play the game a few days early, before it entered Xbox Game Pass.

According to Microsoft, Starfield was primarily responsible for growth in Xbox Game Pass and first-party content, which saw its revenue grow 9%.

Microsoft’s gaming business enjoyed a record July to September quarter in terms of revenue generated, partly driven by the release of Starfield.

The Xbox parent said it had generated over $3.9 billion from gaming, which is its highest-ever Q1 reported for the brand and a record for a non-holiday quarter.

Microsoft said revenue from Xbox content and services, which is by far the division’s biggest money generator, was up 13% year-over-year, driven by growth in Xbox Game Pass.

The Xbox maker finally completed its $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard earlier this month.