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Xbox has undertaken a survey of 14,000 European gamers to gauge the take up and behavioural changes that subscriptions are having on them. The research, presumably, was intended to look for positives in Xbox Game Pass takeup, with the service now having 18m subscribers worldwide.
The research covered 2,000 gaming respondents, all aged 16-40, in seven different countries: United Kingdom, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland and Sweden.
The research showed that over half (53 per cent) of gamers play multiplayer games at least once a week, though that figure was increased by 17 per cent for Game Pass subscribers, who were also more likely to play games with family (19 per cent) and friends (18 per cent).
While it may seem obvious that gamers who are willing to take on a subscriptions service would be more likely to play games with anyone, the suspicion here is that it’s easier to play games with friends and family if you both have a shared library of titles through such a service. To date that has primarily been achieved via free-to-play titles, and more recently an increasing number of crossplay titles.
Across Europe the research noted that 68 per cent of respondents had a gaming subscription, presumably that’s primarily Xbox Game Pass/Gold, PlayStation Plus and Switch Online. Though no breakdown figures were given. Just over half of the gamers played games through subscriptions at least once a week, jumping to 76 per cent for Xbox Game Pass subscribers.
British-specific figures showed a bigger utilisation of subscriptions across the board, with 83 per cent of respondents having a gaming subscription.
“Gaming has a unique power to bring people together, and it’s incredible to see how Xbox Game Pass plays a valuable role for so many people across Europe who use gaming as a way to connect with friends and family on a regular basis,” comments Ryan Cameron, director at Xbox, EMEA.”
