Xbox may 'exit the gaming business' by 2027, says Phil Spencer

Xbox is reportedly relying on a steady increase in Xbox Game Pass subscribers to keep it in the games industry.

During the recent FTC trial, the future of Xbox was laid bare for all to see, forcing the company to share a number of plans for future consoles, most notably the new Xbox Series X variant and even the next console generation set for a 2028 release.

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Xbox Game Pass was also a topic of discussion, largely due to ongoing debates as to its long-term effects on competition in the gaming space, as well as how good of a deal it is for developers to put their games on the service.

Apparently, Xbox holds its subscription service in high regard, with the head of Xbox himself, Phil Spencer, predicting that if subscribers aren’t where they need to be by 2027, it could mark the end of Microsoft’s activity in the gaming business.

Currently, Xbox Game Pass is available on Xbox consoles as well as PC, with the latter having the lowest number of subscribers. One of Xbox’s goals for the future is to increase subscribers on PC as much as possible to keep them in the gaming industry.

While showing projections of where they’d like PC subscribers to be by 2027, Spencer said: "I can safely say that if we do not make more progress than this off console, we would exit the gaming business … If this were the outcome, I don't believe we'd still be in the business."

The next-generation consoles currently in development by Microsoft will supposedly be made with Xbox Game Pass in mind, adopting a cloud-hybrid system that’d essentially make gaming on Xbox platforms entirely digital.

The company even wants to eventually bring cloud streaming to Sony’s PlayStation consoles, but believes such a move would be instantly blocked by the competitor.

Xbox Game Pass is expected to surpass 100 million subscribers by 2029/2030, though upcoming Xbox exclusives and AAA titles being added to the service will likely determine if that expectation becomes reality.