According to a new report, the Xbox platform saw a 20% drop in the number of published games in 2025 compared to 2024. The report, released by the analytics company GameDiscoverCo, states that 896 games were launched on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, down from 1,115 in 2024. The 2025 figure is also lower than in 2023, which saw 945 releases, though it remains slightly higher than 2022, when 828 titles were published.
PlayStation and Nintendo Switch See Growth
The report highlights that Xbox is the only major platform to experience a year-over-year decline in the number of released games in 2025. Nintendo, with Switch 1 and Switch 2, launched 3,138 games, marking an 8% increase from the previous year. Meanwhile, Sony recorded the release of 1,347 titles across PS4 and PS5, representing a 4% growth compared to 2024.
The Possible Reasons Behind the Decline
Simon Carless, founder of GameDiscoverCo and author of the column This Week in Video Games, suggested that Xbox’s downward trend might continue — “especially as Microsoft is starting to fudge the definition of Xbox devices by introducing handheld ones that play Windows games.”
He added, “Microsoft’s long-term plan may be to make all of its hardware PC compatible anyhow (then this becomes less of a problem.)”
Regarding the influence of the Game Pass subscription service on these numbers, Carless noted: “It’s difficult to tell if Game Pass led to an erosion of the Xbox hardware market for smaller games. Xbox’s argument would be that most of its users didn’t buy indie games anyhow, so the money it’s handing out for Game Pass is all ‘found money’.”
Others argue that core Xbox users, already having access to a vast library of smaller games through Game Pass, might be less inclined to buy additional titles outside the service. The truth, however, remains difficult to pinpoint.
The decline in Xbox hardware performance is well known, with sluggish sales and limited momentum from Microsoft, which seems increasingly focused on expanding its software ecosystem rather than pushing its consoles.
