Microsoft confirmed during its fiscal 2025 fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday that Xbox Game Pass generated nearly $5 billion (approximately Rs. 43,791 crore) in revenue over the past year. The company said its gaming subscription service performed better than expected in fiscal 2025, which ended June 30. The Xbox parent company didn’t share an update on Game Pass subscription growth, but the service confirmed it had reached 34 million subscribers in February 2024.
Xbox Game Pass revenue approaches $5 billion
During an earnings call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reflected on Xbox’s year and announced that the company had reached 500 million monthly active users across platforms and devices. The executive shared updates on big franchises like Call of Duty and Minecraft and announced Game Pass revenue milestones.
“The Call of Duty franchise has never been stronger: 50 million people have played Black Ops 6. More than 2 billion hours total,” Nadella said on the call.
“Minecraft achieved record monthly active usage and revenue this quarter, thanks in large part to the success of the Minecraft movie.
“We are developing nearly 40 games and there will be more in the future.
“This year we have delivered more than 500 million hours of gaming via the cloud.
“Game Pass annual revenue approaches $5 billion for the first time.”
Nadella also confirmed that Microsoft was the largest publisher on Xbox and PlayStation platforms in the fourth quarter, and praised the “successful” launch of Forza Horizon 5 (PS5 version) and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered.
Nadella’s comments about Microsoft’s success as a publisher on rival platforms are not surprising. Last week, market analysis firm Alinea Analytics reported that Forza Horizon 5 was the best-selling game on PS5 in 2025. Sony also confirmed earlier that Forza, Forsaken Remastered and Minecraft (all Xbox first-party games) were the three best-selling games on the EU and US PlayStation Store in April.
Microsoft games, Xbox services growth
During the quarterly earnings call, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Amy Hood said that both first-party games and Xbox Game Pass performed better than expected in fiscal 2025, driving game revenue to grow by 10%. Xbox content and services revenue also grew 13% (12% in constant currency), Hood said.
Despite growth in Microsoft’s gaming division, Xbox suffered devastating cuts earlier this month, with widespread layoffs, studio closures and project cancellations. In the latest round of layoffs, nearly 4% of Microsoft’s workforce – more than 9,000 employees – were laid off.
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer said at the time that the Xbox platform “has never looked stronger” but that future success would require “tough decisions.”
“I recognize that these changes come at a time when we have more players, games and game time than ever before. Our platform, hardware and game roadmap have never looked stronger,” Spencer said in an internal memo to employees. “The success we are seeing now is based on the tough decisions we have made before. We must make choices now to continue our success in the coming years, and a key part of that strategy is the discipline of prioritizing our strongest opportunities.”
Game Pass, meanwhile, has added some notable content over the past year, including Call of Duty. This year, the service added critically acclaimed games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, The Alters and Atomfall, in addition to popular first-party games like Doom: Dark Ages, Avowed, Grounded 2 and Oblivion Remastered.