High On Life is the biggest 3rd party Xbox Game Pass Launch in history

Squanch Games has built a very successful game as we reported over the last week, High On Life has been the most popular game in all categories possible for Xbox Game Pass. Today, Microsoft officially said that High On Life is the biggest 3rd party Xbox Game Pass release in history as well as biggest release of a single player-only game in the service’s history. It’s also the biggest Xbox Game Pass launch of 2022. 

These stats are measured in terms of engagement, based on the number of hours played. So it isn’t just about downloads on the game it’s actually displaying who is playing actively. 

“This was our first time launching a game with Game Pass,” said Mike Fridley, Studio Director and COO of Squanch Games, “and we’ve been blown away by the response from the players who have made us the most popular game on Game Pass right now. When Squanch Games was first created, it was to make the games we wanted to play – and Game Pass is helping us reach the players that want to play those games too.”

When High On Life was first revealed  at the Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase it was tough to say how much enthusiasm would be around it. 

Would High On Life still have this success if Xbox Game Pass didn’t exist?