Analyst: Xbox to Start Earning from Advertising - Game Pass Will Change

The economics of direct monetization in games has always scaled poorly. Internal Microsoft documents leaked in 2023 showed the math: to receive $7.8 billion per year from 100 million Game Pass subscribers, the average revenue should be $6.50 per month, which is lower than the actual $9.26. The only way to close the gap is to find revenue not directly from the player.
Games are becoming mass entertainment and starting to work like a media business.
Television did not take money from viewers. Radio – from listeners. The Internet – from readers. They all grew through indirect monetization.
The gaming industry resisted this for longer, but that time is coming to an end.
There are not enough players willing to pay $30 per month. The real market is three billion people who don't pay, and they can only be monetized indirectly.