Daily Briefing: Wednesday 20th October

Microsoft missed their Xbox Game Pass subscriber goal for the year

That's according to new financial documentation recently published by Microsoft, which claims that the number of actively paying Xbox Game Pass subscribers increased by 37.48% in the year ending June 30th. That's a solid enough growth number, really, but Microsoft had initially targeted an increase of 47.79% so they were off by quite a bit. This underperformance is exacerbated by the previous year's figures when subscriber growth smashed its 71% goal by posting an increase of nearly 86%

• The reason it's worth calling attention to these kinds of percentage increase figures is that they're about the only actual numbers Microsoft are willing to release these days, especially when it comes to Xbox Game Pass. The entire industry would likely be very curious to get concrete active subscriber numbers for the service, but it's possible that Microsoft just do better to maintain that little bit of mystique. It does make the percentage increases feel a little nebulous though, doesn't it? We're evidently supposed to be impressed by any increase, but without an actual figure to compare it against it definitely loses a lot of its impact.

Activision Blizzard part ways with over 20 employees following harassment allegations

The confirmation for this comes courtesy of a new report from the Financial Times and a note from Activision Blizzard's controversial chief compliance officer Frances Townsend published to the company's official corporate website. Townsend says, "it doesn’t matter what your rank is, what your job is. If you’ve committed some sort of misconduct or you’re a leader who has tolerated a culture that is not consistent with our values, we’re going to take action." The note also outlines that Activision Blizzard are keen to "earn our team's confidence that, when they speak up, they will be heard." The company are also committed to addressing staff concerns "with a renewed urgency."

• Townsend also outlined that over 20 people have so far been fired from Activision Blizzard in the wake of the allegations, and "more than 20 individuals faced other types of disciplinary action." So far, none of these employees have been named so we aren't able to trace reputations or behaviours just yet. It's been a while since we heard from Townsend, actually. She was run off Twitter for posting anti-whistleblowing media in the wake of the lawsuit, which she herself called "meritless." She's gross, in other words, but is apparently still hanging on despite it all.

Bungie are being super weird about Destiny 2 pricing

Destiny 2's newest expansion The Witch Queen is due out next year and, while there is a lot of excitement surrounding it, it's been tainted somewhat by news of how developers Bungie are planning to monetise all this. The new dungeons coming to the game next year won't be included in the standard edition of The Witch Queen, nor will they be available in the Year 5 season pass. Now, this was technically announced back when Bungie revealed the multiple editions of The Witch Queen, but the note apparently slipped through unnoticed.

• Replying to a fan query on Reddit, a Bungie community manager outlined that there will be several upgrade paths for The Witch Queen that will allow players to access more content but they won't be included as standard. Basically, if players only buy the basic version of The Witch Queen and the relevant season passes, they won't get those new dungeons. It's a strange decision given that both Destiny 2's Forsaken and Shadowkeep expansions included their respective dungeons from launch. Strange times, Bungie must need a few extra quid for something.