Xbox Game Pass may cost Microsoft up to 80% in premium sales. Could this impact their platform exclusivity strategy or not?

Xbox Game Pass subscriptions can give players an easy way to access tons of games, but it may result in a massive loss of actual game sales.

With the massive deals launched through Game Pass, some releases lose up to 80% of profits they may have earned otherwise.

Microsoft reveals its first "coming soon" announcement of 2025 by showcasing several games coming to Xbox Game Pass in early January.

A journalist and market data expert has suggested that Game Pass launches help boost PS5 game sales more than they help Xbox. Christopher Dring, formerly of GameIndustry.biz, revealed during a Q&A session with Install Base Forum that games launching on Microsoft’s subscription service can lose up to 80% of their expected premium sales on Xbox.

A number of changes have been made to Xbox Game Pass Quests, opening them up to PC Game Pass users, but restricting them for users under 18.

In addition to allowing players to stream Xbox Game Pass titles from a variety of devices, Microsoft has continued to offer many of its first-party titles on competing platforms. Xbox's most recent big console exclusive, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, will be coming to PlayStation 5 in the spring.

A report has come out that sheds light on revenue after a game is placed on Xbox Game Pass, and it suggests a title can lose "around 80% of its expected premium sales"