Xbox Game Pass subscribers spend 20% more on gaming overall, Microsoft says

While Xbox Game Pass gives you a ton of games for one monthly subscription, folks who sign up for it are still likely to spend more on games overall.

That's according to stats cited by Sarah Bond, corporate vice president of Gaming Ecosystem at Microsoft, in a recent interview with Forbes. Bond explained that Game Pass subscribers spend roughly 20 percent more on gaming overall; they also spend 20 percent more time playing games, play 30 percent more games, and try 40 percent more genres of games. That spending stat may be the most surprising for a service that lets you play so many games for one relatively low fee, but Bond pointed to how Game Pass differs from other subscription-based entertainment services for an explanation.

"When you subscribe to a channel that enables you to watch a video, like Netflix, that's kind of the end of the monetization cycle that you have with that piece of content," Bond said. "In gaming it's the opposite: there are items that you can buy in the game, there are extensions you can buy, there's a next franchise you can purchase, there are other genres that you can leap to."

Xbox Game Pass has been working extra hard to justify its subscription recently, with a strong slate of new and upcoming additions that include Fallout 4, Oblivion, Prey, and Outriders, with Outriders set to arrive on Game Pass on day one.

If you want a new console to go with all those Game Pass games, make sure you check out our guide on how to make the most of the Xbox Series X restock.