PC Game Pass was launched in five countries in Southeast Asia namely Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam last year on April 19, joining Singapore.
A year on, Xbox revealed that the Southeast Asia expansion has significantly boosted the growth of Game Pass in Asia.
Xbox is being cagey by not revealing any concrete numbers to describe this growth, however, just like how they aren’t disclosing Game Pass subscriber numbers and even sales numbers of the Xbox Series consoles.
But we do get some vague data that sort of give context to this “tremendous growth”, as Xbox describes it. And there are as follows:
- Game Pass members have doubled in Asia in the past two years
- Most popular games in the SEA markets are Multiplayer Online Co-operative Games that are cross-platform. Some notable examples include Grounded and Sea of Thieves
- Over 12 million achievements have been achieved by SEA Game Pass gamers
- Malaysia has had the highest average achievements unlocked per user
Other than Malaysians being the absolute achievement hunters among all players in Southeast Asia, the one fascinating tidbit is how online multiplayer games, and co-op games, are the most popular ones on Game Pass.
Grounded, by RPG makers Obsidian, and Sea Of Thieves, by Rare, are developers that have built a reputation on making different sort of games, but has found success in operating online multiplayer titles, especially on Game Pass.
Sea Of Thieves took a while to get there, it was ill-received at launch but has now sailed past its rocky launch to be a live service title with a strong player base.
On that note, Arkane Austin, another Xbox Game Studio by way of Bethesda being part of Microsoft, just released its online multiplayer co-op game Redfall. We don’t think highly of that game, especially compared to the reputation of the developer that has produced incredible single-player immersive sims, but maybe it can live a good life as a Game Pass game where players bring their friends to play (and/or suffer) together.
Xbox is committed to expanding not only its Game Pass offerings but also having the brand officially present in the region. Xbox previously announced that the Xbox Wireless Controllers will be officially offered in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines soon, whereas in Thailand and Vietnam where the controller is already sold there, new colours will be launched soon.
Here’s a statement by Jeremy Hinton, Asia Business Director at Xbox, on celebrating the one-year anniversary:
“We’ve come a long way since we launched the PC Game Pass in SEA a year ago – this one-year anniversary is a celebration of all the support that Xbox has received from our SEA players.
We are at the forefront of the world’s most exciting art form and games are truly powerful in connecting people across borders, languages, and different cultures. Our work only comes to life because of the joy that our players experience and here in Southeast Asia, you have made our passion even stronger.
We remain committed to improving your gaming experience here in the region and this is why we are so excited to bring in new accessories to the region and to continue making great games available with PC Game Pass.
Beyond that, we are also committed to supporting local SEA developers through our ID@Xbox program. We want to empower gaming developers to create games that are local and unique to their culture.”
This year, Xbox has expanded the PC Game Pass service to 40 more countries across the globe.
Xbox may be trailing behind the console sales compared to PlayStation and Nintendo (not helped by the limited availability of Xbox Series consoles globally), but let’s see if its bet on Game Pass, the monthly subscription that allows players access to a back catalogue of games updated twice per month, pays off in the long run.
For now, at RM15 per month, PC Game Pass is a steal of a subscription, as long as you like enough games that are in that library to keep you playing and paying.