Take due note that Microsoft no longer provides any numbers about Xbox Live users to either investors or the general public. The company was disclosing user-activity in every earning report since 2014 before deciding to stop after growth of the online service began slowing down. That being said, there are still other channels through which to understand how far Xbox Live has progressed.
According to a chart posted on Reddit earlier today, 23.1 percent of Xbox Live users are on Windows-based desktop systems. That number, while slim, is still pretty impressive, particularly when noting that there are far more Xbox Live users on PC than any other platform — excluding Xbox One and including Xbox 360. With Microsoft committed to boost support for PC through services like Xbox Game Pass, expect the PC-base to further increase in the next generation.
The 23.1 percent as well as other statistics included in the chart do come with a disclaimer. Firstly, a random sample of 1.5 million Xbox Live accounts were retrieved through the Xbox API. Secondly, only accounts with a non-hidden status were included. Thirdly, the statistics possibly include multiple accounts from the same user on different platforms. Finally, the user-number should not be taken as an equivalent for user-activity. Xbox Live is sometimes required to log into games like Minecraft on other platforms like PlayStation.
It goes without saying that Xbox Game Pass was (and remains) a stellar success. Microsoft has included so many notable games over the past few months that players on PC pretty much had no choice but to embrace the subscription-based service. Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds, for example, provided strong results. Cuphead is incoming as well, according to rumors, and word through the grapevine has even pegged Cyberpunk 2077 for Xbox Game Pass.
Microsoft is now expected to reveal just how the company plans to evolve the current services with Xbox Series X next year.
