PullnPray

@IronMan30

You will already be able to get all their games on your mobile phone, a smart TV, or a cheap streaming device. What difference does it make if they put the cloud version of Game Pass on Nintendo and PlayStation?

@shamirqushairi

I think it is a priority. It just isn't their only priority. And those things that seem to make the console optional (cloud, PC) could also be seen as things that make the console more desirable.

Sales, especially the 30% cut from 3rd party game and microtransaction sales, is still an important source of revenue for Xbox. If they put Game Pass downloads on PS5, this revenue would all but vanish. And then what happens 3 years from now, when there are 100 million PS5s out in the market, and only 15 million Series consoles, and Sony decides they don't want Game Pass on their console anymore? Xbox is screwed.

For it to make sense for Microsoft, they would need to bring the full Xbox ecosystem over to PlayStation. You use your gamertag rather than PSN account when playing a Game Pass game. If you are playing Madden via Game Pass, and you purchase in game currency, Microsoft gets the 30% cut rather than Sony. And since doing all this would destroy Microsoft's own console, Microsoft would require Sony to commit long-term to all of these conditions.

Basically, I think Game Pass on PlayStation is a long shot. But if it does ever happen, it would likely be the xCloud version.

@shamirqushairi I don't think you read my hypothetical conditions very carefully.

@shamirqushairi Of course they care about console sales. People need to let go of this all or nothing thinking. Just because it is no longer the only thing they care about doesn't mean they don't care about it at all. If they didn't care, they wouldn't have played chicken with Sony over the price reveal. They wouldn't have announced the Bethesda acquisition the night before pre-orders went live. They wouldn't have brought two consoles to the market. Hell, if they truly didn't care they wouldn't have released a console at all.

@Snake_V5

Well then those haters are going to be happy because xCloud is already very accessible and will only become more so. From a console war debate standpoint, I don't see how it makes any difference whether you can play xCloud on your PlayStation, your Samsung TV, or a cheap streaming device. And of course Microsoft is about making money and not console war nonsense.

That said, I do think it would be foolish of Microsoft to bring Game Pass downloads to PlayStation. I don't think they would do that.

@Snake_V5 Yeah, so it would make no sense to play xCloud on your PlayStation when you can play the game locally on your Xbox. Sony would lose no money from you by offering Game Pass Streaming on the PlayStation.

@Snake_V5 Do you own an Xbox? Do you subscribe to Game Pass?

@Dezzy70

Even if Nintendo and PlayStation allowed it, I don't think Microsoft would put Game Pass downloads on their consoles. Only the xCloud version. Putting xCloud on the PlayStation might hurt Series X/S sales a bit, but putting Game Pass downloads on the console would destroy Microsoft's consoles. I don't think they are ready to do that. Also, it would complicate their development pipeline. They built a new development environment (Game Core) to make it easier to simultaneously develop games for Xbox and PC.

@Snake_V5

I mostly agree with you, but I'll play devil's advocate. Imagine Game Pass Streaming becomes ubiquitous. It's on mobile devices, TVs, and $30 streaming devices. The barrier to using the service is negligible, and almost all gamers, including those who play on Nintendo and PlayStation, subscribe to it. Are Sony and Nintendo really gaining anything by keeping it off their devices? Will making their customers switch inputs on their TV really prevent Game Pass from eating away at their profits? Instead, they could allow Game Pass on their consoles but make PS+/Switch Online a requirement for using it.

I think we are many years away from a cloud gaming service becoming so ubiquitous, but that is how it could happen.