In 2021, Microsoft reportedly considered shutting down its Xbox division. At the time, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella "faced a choice" between acquiring game studios to fuel Xbox's growth or exiting the gaming business.
Nadella discussed the dilemma with two unnamed individuals before deciding to move forward with Xbox, which ultimately ended up acquiring Bethesda in 2021 and Activision Blizzard in 2023. The company could either acquire major game studios to attract more subscribers to its fledgling Game Pass subscription service or shut down its gaming business entirely, Nadella told two people at the time.
The post the Pure Xbox website also notes that after Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard, several "leading game developers" turned down offers to add their titles to Xbox Game Pass.
The Pure Xbox team has reached Microsoft on this, and the company revealed some details.
They pointed to CEO Satya Nadella's statement from a June 2021 interview, where he affirmed that the company was fully committed to gaming. The company also highlighted that engagement across Xbox, PC, and mobile platforms is currently at an all-time high, with over 500 million active monthly players. Notably, the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 recently set a new record for Xbox Game Pass, achieving its best-ever performance in terms of user engagement and attracting a record number of subscribers on launch day.
In relation to the Activision Blizzard acquisition, Microsoft emphasized the positive outcomes it has had so far, including steady growth in content and services revenue and a significantly stronger portfolio of intellectual property.
While not all of this information is directly tied to the 2021 timeframe, the company is clearly aiming to highlight the major successes Xbox has seen in recent years.
The publication also claims that the company planned to reach 100 million Game Pass subscribers by 2030. This plan was in place long before the Activision Blizzard deal was completed. However, the current growth rate of Game Pass is significantly lower than expected, which may explain why Xbox games are released on competing platforms.
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