Microsoft’s Ex-VP on Game Pass: ‘It scares me’
Is Game Pass bad for the gaming industry?
How well does the Game Pass model actually work? This is difficult to assess from the outside, since we are completely dependent on statements from Microsoft, which only occasionally give specific figures. According to the company, however, the service is doing splendidly. Reportedly, Game Pass is growing rapidly (passing 25 million subscriptions), and subscribers are said to be spending even more money than non-subscribers.
Still, criticism continues to surface, and now even the former vice president of Microsoft’s gaming division is worried about Game Pass’s impact on the industry.
Is Game Pass the Spotify for Gaming?
In the current episode of Xbox Expansion Pass Podcasts said Ed Fries on the subject, who was instrumental in the development of the first Xbox. When asked what he would do differently with his former employer today, he turned to Game Pass. As a consumer, he would love the service, says Fries, but it makes him nervous about the development of the industry as a whole:
Game Pass scares me. There’s an analogy in the music industry called Spotify. When Spotify went through the roof, the music business was destroyed. Sales were halved and no one was buying songs anymore. That’s why we have to be careful not to implement such a system in the games industry.
Like many others, Fries cites Spotify as a “dissuasive” example, but this is his personal opinion. Because there is a lot of discussion about the role of Spotify in the development of the music industry, many simply see Spotify as the logical conclusion of technical progress and the tendency to no longer have to physically own data carriers. So Spotify is not the reason, but rather a product of this development.
These are the new Game Pass games for May:
more on the subject
Xbox Game Pass in May 2022
Sony has been hitting the same mark for a long time: The PlayStation team has launched its new subscription service PS Plus Premium in the first regions, which is quite similar to Game Pass. Compared to the competition, there won’t be any big first-party games on the day of release. The reason given by Sony is that the budget for the developments would have to be reduced and the quality of the games would suffer as a result.
Other recent Game Pass news:
The Game Pass could soon become more expensive
We can only speculate whether Ed Fries is correct with his statements and is also subjective in view of the quality of the title. However, Microsoft is known to have subsidized Game Pass for a long time to make it the success it is today. Similar to subscription services from other sectors – such as Netflix or Spotify – Microsoft’s service will have to become more expensive sooner or later.
Do you think Game Pass will hurt the gaming industry in the long run?
Reference-www.gamepro.de