Xbox Game Pass Feels Like Browsing At Blockbuster, Says Xbox Exec
Image: Stu pendousmat at English Wikipedia

We've seen about a million Xbox Game Pass to Netflix comparisons over the years; it's one of the easiest ways to quantify the subscription service. However, in a new interview, Xbox's Chris Charla has compared Game Pass to an older 'rental' institution.

That'd be famous 90s video store, Blockbuster!

In the interview with Screen Rant, Charla explained that he felt Game Pass had some of the Blockbuster "energy", recalling the times when you could go into the store and pick from a wide range of games to rent for a few days:

"The only thing I can compare it to - and this is an old comparison, because I'm an old person - is when you used to go to the video stores and rent videos. You could also rent video games, so you'd go into this Blockbuster in the US and rent one NES game for the weekend. But you have all this choice, so instead of getting the one game for your birthday, you now have a whole aisle of games and can have any of them. "

"I think Game Pass has some of that energy, and I think it's been a great way for people to find their next favorite game. But when I look at it from a developer point of view, I think it's been a fantastic way for developers to find their audience."

In our view, Xbox Game Pass is undoubtedly a massive improvement on the Blockbuster era, but it's impossible to deny there was something really enticing about going into a physical store and taking your time to pick out the perfect game to rent for the weekend. These days, we're just totally spoilt for choice with Game Pass!

Interestingly, Blockbuster has actually been in the news again recently as the official Twitter account has been posting for the first time in two years, including a particularly humourous tweet that has been going viral over the past 24 hours:

Agree with the comparison? Did you used to rent games at Blockbuster? Tell us in the comments.

[source screenrant.com]