2022 Sees High on Life as the Most Successful Game Pass Launch

It has been officially announced that High on Life has achieved the largest launch of the year on Xbox Game Pass, as well as the most successful single-player release on the platform since its inception. According to Xbox, the cartoon-style shooter from Squanch Games, founded by Justin Roiland of Rick and Morty fame, holds the record for the biggest third-party launch in Game Pass history. Since its release in December, the game has consistently ranked at the top of Game Pass' most popular games list. The popularity of the game is determined by the total hours played within the first five days of its release. In a statement, Mike Fridley, Squanch Games' studio director and COO, expressed his excitement, saying, "This is our first experience launching a game with Game Pass, and we are thrilled by the overwhelming response from players, making us the most popular game on the platform currently." Fridley added, "When we founded Squanch Games, our goal was to create games that we would enjoy playing, and Game Pass has enabled us to reach players who share the same passion for our games." Matt Percy, Xbox general manager of content planning, also commented, "High On Life is a truly unique title that we have been eagerly anticipating for a long time." In October, reports emerged that Microsoft's gaming subscription service had failed to meet its growth targets for the second consecutive year, with a growth rate of 28% compared to the projected 73%. Recently, a public survey revealed that Xbox might be considering the introduction of an ad-supported tier for Game Pass, which would offer access to first-party Xbox games six months after their release at a lower monthly price of $3.