Xbox has failed to reach its Game Pass subscriber target for the second year running

Microsoft has failed to hit its internal target number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers for the second year in a row.

Axios reports that a new financial filing made by the company gives information on an annual target tied to CEO Satya Nadella‘s pay (as well as that of other key Microsoft executives).

In order for the target to be hit, Microsoft had to see a growth rate of 72.88% in Xbox Game Pass subscribers for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2022.

Instead, while the number of subscribers did still continue to grow, the rate was only 28.07%.

This is the second time the Game Pass growth rate has failed to reach internal targets. In the 2021 fiscal year the target was 47.79% growth but the final result was 37.48% growth.

In the previous year the target was met – the target was 71% growth and the result was 85.75% growth.

Microsoft’s head of gaming Phil Spencer explained earlier this week that Game Pass growth on console is “slowing down”.

“I’ve seen growth slow down, mainly because at some point you’ve reached everybody on console that wants to subscribe,” Spencer said while speaking at WSJ Tech Live.

As of January 2022, Game Pass has over 25 million subscribers, according to Microsoft. The company recently claimed as part of the UK’s investigation into its proposed Activision acquisition that it has an installed base of 63 million consoles.

Further reading

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Xbox Game Pass growth is ‘slowing down’ on console, claims Phil Spencer

However, the service has grown significantly on PC in the last year, according to Microsoft

In the same interview, Spencer claimed that Xbox Game Pass is “10-15% of (its) overall revenue” and that the service is profitable for the company.

The head of gaming also suggested that Xbox consoles, games and subscriptions may increase in price in the future.

Both Microsoft and PlayStation have in the past said they don’t believe subscriptions will ever be the dominant model in video games.