Xbox gamers are reportedly playing more games as of late, according to recent data, than other platforms, and if you really think about why, all roads lead to Game Pass, one of the biggest subscription service libraries you can have at your fingertips. While, yes, the total number of Xbox Series X/S consoles that have sold is lower than Valve’s PC gaming platform, or even the PlayStation 5s platform, there is one major standing point when it comes to Xbox players, and that is the sheer number of games fans play in a month.
Data that has come in from the entertainment research team at Ampere Analytics has shown us that in August, Xbox users played a rough average of 5.7 titles, whilst Steam users played 4.5 and PS5 players hopped on to play 3.7. With the Xbox topping out with 2 more average titles than the PlayStation, it shows how big of a factor having powerhouse titles on the sub service means. Our friends at Ampere went on to say that this has been the consistent average since tracking the metric back in August 2022, which means this has been the case for three years!
Now, this isn’t me starting an unholy gaming platform war, as it’s absolutely not. However, the big case that aids Microsoft is the Xbox Game Pass coming in clutch, and with this extending onto the PC with the PC Pass, gamers are really thriving at the moment for Microsoft. Since its launch in 2017, Game Pass has grown massively with the grand total of subscribers hitting 34 million in early 2024, which is the service’s biggest milestone as of late, alongside the huge investments being made as of now in 2025, with many studios wanting to come back to the platform!
It is absolutely undeniable that Game Pass is a global force of nature, but some of those numbers acquired into the subscriber list are from when Xbox Game Pass Core took over from Xbox Live Gold, and if that instantly made you feel old, good, because it made me feel ancient. With now over 500 games to offer to fans, it’s very clear why the service is doing so well, given that it enables players to engage in more games than they ever did before. Mind you, with that being said, Ampere has also highlighted that, on average, Xbox players spend less total time in-game than Steam or PS5 players do. Last month, if we look for an example, PS5 users spent 12.7 hours on games and Steam players spent 11.9 hours, whilst Xbox fans only managed 7.7 hours in total, and that’s a major difference, with a roughly four to five hours difference.
A big drawing point for the data for Xbox seems to be Call of Duty games, which is now a franchise Microsoft owns and includes in Game Pass after the takeover of Acti-Blizz was done in 2023. Last year, on average, Xbox players spearheaded metrics as it jumped 20% to 10.4 hours in November after the subsequent launch of Black Ops 6, then after some time slowly fell back down to the recorded average. Now the same is anticipated to apply again with the upcoming release of Black Ops 7 looming and fans eagerly looking forward to the game.
It looks to me, as per the data, that a lot of Game Pass players enjoy their action-packed FPS games, and this is backed as, in August of this year, 42% of Xbox game time was spent on Game Pass, around when Call of Duty releases, this percentage heads to 50% in the fall. However, it has been shown as well within the data that outside of these release windows, most in-game time is spent on games that aren’t on Game Pass, but not by much.
The verdict is this, Game Pass is a major factor in Xbox users racking up more time spent on more games than any other platform and this is shown within multiple data figures. However, with this, it shows that Game Pass has become a staple in many people’s households as it provides a vast library to choose from, and yes, whilst the in-game time is hugely different compared to the PC platform or the PS5 platform, it shows that Game Pass offers the versatility of being able to access games at the simple tap of a button, which makes it a great benefactor for people who like to have a quick and easy solution to gaming.
The ability to hop into many new games that usually also wouldn’t get a look in, within the same space as major players in the gaming industry gives gamers the opportunity to discover their new favourite titles and even gain interest in new genres! Before Game Pass, I was pretty stuck to sports games, FPS titles and adventure games, but now I’ve diversified my taste into playing Soulslike games such as Lies of P, even down to playing racing games like Forza Horizon. It has allowed me to gain new tastes and pick up new interests as it will have for many, many players of Xbox and even PC.
