New data shows that two of gaming’s biggest subscriptions are plateauing, at least in the U.S.

PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Spending Has Completely Plateaued in USA https://t.co/T96gKbIMrN #Repost #Industry #PS5 #PSPlus #Subscriptions #USA pic.twitter.com/837wvQgAcm

— Push Square (@pushsquare) August 29, 2023

This comes from Push Square who shares in their article data from a gamesindustry.biz report by Circana (previously known as The NPD group and IRi) on subscription spending plateauing in gaming.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were getting into video games, causing a spike in players, engagement and spending from people who wanted to stay connected with friends or family.  With the spike in players and engagement, demand for new products followed, which saw supply issues for new electronics like the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and computer hardware, as well as delays for games.

Alongside the delays and supply issues, saw a rise in players signing up for new subscription services like Xbox Game Pass, which is still a huge success to this day, offering three tiers ranging from $10-$16 a month for Xbox and PC getting you hundreds of games and day one releases from Xbox Studio titles.  Sony followed suit with their own subscription-based service called PlayStation Plus and merged PlayStation Now with PS Plus.

According to Circana, “Consumer spending on video game subscriptions settled at $400 million after reaching that number in November 2021. Subscription fatigue, fewer available dollars for discretionary spending due to higher food and gas prices, slow mass market adoption of cloud gaming and a strong slate of new premium releases may be contributing factors to the slowdown.”  Circana also touches upon the growth in the digital side of gaming and it being the biggest contributor to performance, with many opting for digital over physical.

While this is surprising to many, this does not mean that Game Pass or PS Plus (PlayStationPlus) will disappear. People will unsubscribe and re-sign up again for many reasons such as money, priorities, interest in certain titles, and the catalog. Many consumers are also fine with playing one or two titles that they find interesting for that year, and there are those who would want to experiment and pay for Game Pass or PS Plus to play other titles that they find interesting.

Like what Circana says at the end of their report; “The US video game market continues to be a dynamic and quickly changing landscape, but one which warrants continued optimism in both the short and long-term.”