Without a doubt,Xbox Game Passhas become one of the best deals in gaming, to the point where it’s allowed Microsoft to shift theirfocus from consolesand instead create an ecosystem where anything, from your PC to your portable phone,can be an Xbox.
However,with some games being launched day one on Game Pass, one may wonder how Microsoft is recuperating the cost of lost sales.As it turns out, similar to howEpic Games free titlesare digging a trench of debt, Microsoft is also losing a good deal of profits through Game Pass.
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Business journalist Christopher Dring, an expert on the industry and former head of gamesIndustry.biz, explained in anonline Q&Aexactly what the business model for Game Pass can entail and howsome titles are even expected to lose up to 80% of their profits.
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The industry is, as a whole, on amassive incline, and Dring helps explain how profits and statistics may shift as the market continues on the path ofcloud gamingand subscription services. Additionally, there are still plenty of reasons why subscriptions can benefit gaming.
First, even though Dring explained “that games that are in Game Pass can expect to lose around 80% of its expected premium sales on Xbox,” he also explains how this statistic is very well understood within the industry.
It’s important to note that many of the massive titles released on Game Pass, such asIndiana Jones And The Great Circle, were created by companies such as Bethesda, whichMicrosoft had boughtpreviously. A big push behind these acquisitions was the potential upgrade to Game Pass.
So Game Pass doesn’t solely leak profit from other game companies but from Microsoft themselves.Not to mention, beingpackaged on Game Passallows potential customers to try your product when they may not have otherwise.
And at least Microsoft has more stability with people playing on separate platforms such as handheld devices and PCs.Compare this to Sony, which, according to Dring, “is a little anxious it still has such a large audience to upgrade from PS4.”
Being ‘games-focused’ has created an excellent incentive for Microsoft to capture the market from a different angle. Dring also makes the good point that, despite leaking into profits, the massive audience of Game Pass can then shift attention away from standard AAA releases.
Indie Potential On Game Pass
Although the biggest news is always what massive title has been announced on Game Pass next, such asCall Of Duty Black Ops 6, which brought in a massiveamount of newcomersto the service, there’s a whole breadth of other experiences to play on the platform.
Microsoft isn’t new to supporting indie developers, with games likeOri And the Blind ForestandCupheadpreviously published by Microsoft Game Studios. As Dring explains, having these titles on Game Pass can be a massive success for these smaller games.
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These excellent titles will give you more hours of entertainment than you’re able to fathom.
Dring posed the question: “Try being an indie game on Xbox right now that’s not on Game Pass,” as it’s clear the service can be a considerable path for indie games to reach an audience without having to deal with other online platforms like Steam.
We know from data that there are a lot of people that only play Call of Duty. And if some of those people decided to get Call of Duty this year via Game Pass, and those very same people took the opportunity to play some other Game Pass games, games they wouldn’t have otherwise played… it’s hard to argue that’s a bad thing.
It’s a hard line to decide between, as the accessibility of Game Pass andother platformscan bring a massive audience boost, which is integral considering how large the casual gaming market has grown in recent years.
But, with some titles losing up to that 80% mark, companies may end up asking themselves, “should this really be on game pass?” Even though multiplatform releases still allow for massive standardized profits, it can still be a considerable chunk of change.
As expressed by Dring, it truly is a fine line, and on each side, there is a slope to decide between. Sure, many of us may reap the benefits of subscription services and cloud streaming, but who knows what this could bring for the future of gaming.
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