Microsoft’s gaming subscription service is continuous to develop, with new feedback indicating that Xbox Game Pass is getting extra funding than ever earlier than.
Speaking with Eurogamer in a broader interview about Xbox and indie video games as an entire, ID@Xbox head Chris Charla says that 2025 has been a large yr for Xbox Game Pass, with many builders desirous to proceed bringing video games to the service.
“The majority of partners who’ve had a game in Game Pass want to bring their future titles to the service,” Charla says. “As a result, we’ve signed deals with more than 150 partners to expand the catalogue. We continue to engage with hundreds of partners each year to review upcoming titles.”
Charla additionally says that 2025 marks the largest funding ever for Xbox Game Pass, with an rising variety of groups being signed on for this system.
“Last year, we worked with over 50 teams to sign their first Game Pass deal. This year marks our largest investment in Game Pass to date, and we remain focused on delivering the most exciting and diverse catalogue in gaming.”
ID@Xbox works with impartial builders, bringing on groups which have much less expertise (or in some instances, no expertise) publishing video video games.
A incredible yr for video games up to now
Obviously, differences in personal tastes mean there’s going to be some nuance and disagreement no matter what year is being discussed, but for my money and preferences, I’d say this has been the best year of Xbox Game Pass ever.
A lot of that does naturally come down to the utter deluge of first-party games, but the third-party titles have stood out as well, especially with the likes of Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, which is easily my personal frontrunner for game of the year.
It’s a beautiful game, with incredible art direction and a phenomenal soundtrack, all carefully woven into a narrative I’m still thinking about. The game launched day one in Xbox Game Pass, and additionally has gone on to sell over 4.4 million copies so far.
11 bit studios’ survival city-builder Frostpunk 2 also recently came to consoles, and like last year’s excellent PC version, is available in Xbox Game Pass.
That’s to say nothing of the myriad excellent titles that I haven’t gotten around to checking out yet, including Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong.
As prices rise, subscription spending is growing in the U.S.
It’s also worth noting that subscription service spending is up meaningfully in the U.S. so far this year, with analytics firm Circana noting that overall non-mobile subscription spending was up 21% year-over-year in July.
Naturally, that isn’t all Xbox Game Pass, but Microsoft’s subscription service is a part of that pie. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella recently noted that Xbox Game Pass annual revenue reached over $5 billion for the first time in 2025.
I’m quite curious to see how much longer this trend of subscription growth continues in the U.S, and what (if any?) kind of bump we’ll see from the remaining Xbox first-party titles like Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 slated to launch later this year.
Still, as long as growth continues, it’s nice to see Microsoft investing more and more in signing additional games, not just for players but also for developers that are otherwise concerned about getting their feet in the door for the first time.