Microsoft Wants Xbox Game Pass 'on Every Device'

Microsoft has big plans for its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Speaking at an event, Xbox boss Phil Spencer talked about how Microsoft not only wants to bring Xbox Game Pass to PC, which Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella first revealed earlier this year, but also to "every device" out there. Speaking at a Barclays conference in San Francisco, Spencer talked about how Xbox Game Pass--when it eventually comes to more platforms like mobile through streaming--will help Xbox reach billions of gamers worldwide instead of millions.

"When you think about reaching a customer with this content where their only compute device could be an Android phone, you think about, 'What are all the ways that person pays for content today'?" Spencer said (viaGamesindustry.biz). "So we need to make sure that we're world-class at free-to-play content, but we also look at subscription as a much lower barrier way for a customer to build a library of content.

"So we built Xbox Game Pass -- it started on console, it will come to PC, and eventually it will come to every device -- we use the flywheel that we have with customers on an Xbox to start the growth in Xbox Game Pass. But as somebody sitting back and taking a longer-term view of where our business is going, you should look at that as a business model that we think scales to billions of people not hundreds of millions of people like retail does."

It will be interesting to see if Xbox Game Pass becomes as prevalent as Spencer hopes it does. The service has already seen significant blowback from game makers such as Ubisoft.
"I actually view subscription gaming as inhibiting our progress, and I'll give you two examples. One is with PS Now. I think that's a great technology for getting streaming content to people, but we don't make the money as a publisher — we don't make the same amount of money as we would even just putting stuff on sale. So why bother, from a publisher's standpoint?," asked Ubisoft's Chris Early in conversation with GamesBeat.

"The technology is great for a player. I can play anything anywhere instantly! It's awesome technology, which is inhibited by the business model. So charge a PlayStation Plus add-on to be able to stream any game you own to any device you own. That's a great service for the player. It's going to start people adopting that streaming concept in more places. You'll be able to get to a place where you have more people focused on streaming.

There's a similar challenge with your business model. We see it works. We're believers. You've capped it with a subscription plan, where publishers aren't able to make money. On the other hand, you could just sell the game and let people have the five-minute experience while it downloads, or pay you an add-on price to be able to continue to have fast access in many more places. With subscription it's just giving it away."

December 10, 2018