The Xbox boss says that while Microsoft’s subscription service is affordable, it’s an example of who won’t benefit from Xbox Game Pass…
Phil Spencer’s interview with Variety has been in the news a few times, but so far there’s been no mention of Xbox Game Pass. It was recently praised by Jason Kingsley, CEO of Rebellion, who said that the company’s latest game Atomfall, « the British Fallout, » has already reached millions of players by being part of the subscription service since launch day, and he called Microsoft a fantastic partner.
“Xbox Game Pass is not for everyone. If you play one or two games a year, Game Pass is probably not the right business model for you; you should just buy those two games, and that would make perfect sense. But I want you to have a choice. So we’re still focused on making sure that everything that’s on Game Pass is available for purchase. I’ve always thought of Game Pass as just another option for someone who wants to play. We have a lot of business models for people to play, from free-to-play, to buying games, to discounted games – Game Pass is an option.
So when I look at Game Pass, I want to make sure that the hours that people play continue to grow, that new people see this as a way to find and build their library of games, and that’s what we’re focused on. Game Pass has been an important part of the growth of Xbox, but I’m not trying to solve Game Pass by itself. It’s part of the equation for Xbox to find new players,” Spencer said.
It’s true that it can get a game in front of more people, but what if it’s a game that doesn’t really stand out? Then the Game Pass offer can’t make it stand out, so it’s more likely that the developers are going to take the hit in terms of lost sales.
