Microsoft has been talking about Xbox Game Pass once again over the past few days, although perhaps not in the way you might expect, as the latest comments arrive courtesy of Microsoft's Chief Marketing Officer Chris Capossela.
Capossela was speaking as part of the Evercore ISI Inaugural TMT Conference, where he was asked (thanks Twinfinite) about what the company's strategy is with Xbox Game Pass, and how it's performing so far. The marketing exec explained about how Game Pass works, and its focus on reaching a wide number of players across multiple devices:
"We've really tried to change the business model of the way we approach gaming to put the gamer more at the center, so that our promise is that, hey, you can play the games that you love with the people that you love, because social is a big, big part of gaming, community is a big part of it across the devices that you love."
"So, you can think of it as game streaming to many, many endpoints, really billions of different endpoints. And so it's less console-centric or PC-centric, it's far more gaming-centric. And the latest number we've announced is 18 million Game Pass subscribers worldwide. We've only been at it a relatively short period of time, so we're thrilled with that growth."
Capossela then went on to highlight a variety of stats about Xbox Game Pass, including that subscribers are spending 20% more time playing games, playing 30% more genres and playing 40% more games overall.
In conclusion, he suggested that Xbox Game Pass is proving a "real win-win model" for developers, publishers and consumers, stating the company is "pretty psyched about that", including himself as a self-confessed "huge gamer fan."
"For game developers, Game Pass is an awesome way for them to take their content and get it in front of gamers. It's not just pay to consumer wins and the publishers lose.
This is a real win-win model and we're pretty psyched about that."
Capossela's comments aren't particularly shocking, but they're certainly interesting, and it's good to see that the hype for Xbox Game Pass extends beyond the core Xbox team. It sounds like it's a hit throughout the company!
Would you describe Xbox Game Pass as a "real win-win model" for everyone? Give us your thoughts.
[source seekingalpha.com, via twinfinite.net]
Comments 12
I think its an amazing package and I've actually noticed that I'm spending more money on DLC because I don't have to pay for the games.
I love gamepass and totally believe it's the future of gaming that all ends need. Sure it hurts retail, but gaming has been moving away from that for a long time.
I would call it a win win win model.
The gamer wins.
Microsoft wins.
Developer/publisher wins.
The most interesting aspect of GamePass is one we still have not seen fully materialize: games no longer have to sell, they just have to appeal. There are subconscious biases that make gamers not pay money for games that are not in X buckets. If it’s not a triple A game, or part of some big IP, gamers seem way less likely to pay for it until a sale. They are patient to wait.
This makes developing experimental or plain fun (but double A) games just risky business to develop by anyone other than indies (and let’s face it, it’s also a risk for an indie to waste their time for no final revenue.)
By removing the cost of acquisition, and relying on appeal, MS can give money to those projects without being the publisher. Result should be, long term, we get more experimental games and more new IPs, or redirection of beloved IPs that have been dismissed as not being “financially viable”.
I'm all in on gamepass. The costs of games would limit me to only playing a few games and looking for second hand or cheaper sale games. Like in the past i wouldn't experiment with different titles and genres because of the financial risk of trying something different and as a result I'd be missing out. Gamepass just tore down the barriers and I've been playing and enjoying things i never would have even glanced at. I'm definitely playing more often and more variety than I've ever had in the past.
I’m sold on being an Xbox gamer but I don’t really like Gamepass. It’s a great deal and all but I like to have ownership over my software rather than be tied into a constant rental.
Love gamepass, Best deal in gaming..
It's a huge win for publishers since what better way to promote your next big game than to make the earlier games in a series available on Game Pass? I can only imagine how much Yakuza: Like A Dragon benefitted from having all the other Yakuza games on the service.
Honestly I don't know if gamepass is beneficial for the larger third party developers with games that sell millions anyway but for indies and AA games I think it's perfect for them as they can take risks and reach a broader audience than they would just selling the game.
Be interesting to see out of that 18 million how many are on free trials or promotions and if they stick around once they have to lay full price. And tbh with how many mobiles there are I thought it would be higher
I'm definitely buying more DLC and trying games I never would have risked spending money on, in addition to still buying the odd new release.
Moving Out I bought as it left GP, and I've played and loved Tell Me Why, Call of the Sea, The Gardens Between, Deliver Us the Moon, The Little Acre, Donut County, Tacoma and GreedFall (which I also bought) - in addition to games I already knew I'd love like FH4, Outer Worlds and Wreckfest.
Many of those I've bought any available DLC for too.
So many new genres I didn't know I'd like and I'm now just as interested in the small indie games coming (stuff like Moonglow Bay) that can chill me out as I am the AAA stuff.
It's a bargain for what it is, and the "try without risk" really opens up the gaming world for me
The comments above just show how many possibilities and reasons there are for subscribers. For me, the most important thing is being able to try games I'm not sure about and even beating games I wasn't interested in until I tried them, and also having a lot of smaller but awesome games like Hotshot Racing, Grounded or Tetris Effect. Imagine the additional value when Xbox Game Studios start releasing masterpieces like Flight Simulator, Halo Infinite, Fable, Forza Horizon 5, Starfield, Avowed, Perfect Dark, Everwild... Game Pass is destined to shine.
@umeandgames we'll just have to see if it still remains as popular once the price increases
I think it says it all that they've got potentially over 22m subscribers and we haven't had a proper AAA exclusive I can think of during the last 12 months.
Just imagine the growth they could get when the big guns start dropping and they open Game Pass up to stuff like Smart TVs...
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...