NEW | Free 2025 Trends Webinar 🙌

2025-Webinar-Jan
21 January 2025

Trends x AI Ideation

Join us

Xbox partners with Calm to bring gaming soundscapes to relaxation app

A first-person shooter game might not be the first thing to come to mind for improving sleep and meditation. Nonetheless, mental health app Calm is now offering its Premium members the option of listening to relaxing sounds from Halo Infinite and Sea of Thieves as they meditate or drift off.

The result of a partnership with Xbox, these are the first-ever game-themed soundscapes to be featured on Calm. To sweeten the deal for gamers who'd like to try out the app, Xbox Gamepass Ultimate members now get three months of Calm Premium for free, plus 50% off their first year's subscription.

Trend Bite

The collaboration allows both brands to provide their fans with new ways to improve their wellbeing. After an intense gaming session, Xbox players can use Calm to unwind. If they're hesitant to download a mental health app, they may be drawn in by the novel experience of hearing Halo and Sea of Thieves soundscapes in an unfamiliar setting. And by incorporating popular game franchises into Calm, that app's users might discover that gaming can help them relax and de-stress.

Just as attitudes towards mental health are changing, so are preconceptions of the negative effects of gaming. According to a recent study by the University of Oxford, most heavy gamers don't experience adverse effects on their wellbeing. Meanwhile, a global survey among teenagers and adults conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Xbox found that 54% of respondents turn to video games to relieve stress

Who could your organization team up with to help consumers thrive? For more inspiration, check out AGE OF HEALING in our 2023 Trend Check!