racing

Forza Horizon 5 director: Xbox Game Pass didn’t reach subscriber targets

Forza Horizon 5 creative director Mike Brown said Xbox Game Pass failed to attract enough subscribers to be viable. Microsoft had aimed for about 77 million users but is around 30 million, Brown said. He attributes the shortfall to recent studio closures and job losses despite heavy investment; Xbox leadership has admitted the bet didn’t pay off.

• Subscriber shortfall: ~30M vs 77M target
• Microsoft spent heavily on acquisitions (> $80B) to support Game Pass
• Shortfall linked to studio closures, spin-offs and job losses
• Internal concern over cannibalized full-game sales; leadership acknowledges failure