Microsoft’s Sarah Bond commented to the Forbes magazine on the difference of Xbox Game Pass with other subscription services like Netflix and Hulu. The executive affirms that Game Pass is a great bonus for Xbox users and their relationship with independent developers will continue to be expanded in the future.
Bond also explains that Xbox Game Pass does not work like other subscription services in the way that when players like a game featured on Game Pass they are likely to extend their experience through DLCs and trying out similar games from other developers, something that benefits the players, the developers and the industry as a whole.
“When you subscribe to a channel that enables you to watch a video, like Netflix,” Sarah Bond explains, “that’s kind of the end of the monetization cycle that you have with that piece of content. In gaming it’s the opposite: there are items that you can buy in the game, there are extensions you can buy, there’s a next franchise you can purchase, there are other genres that you can leap to.”
According to Sarah Bond, Xbox Game Pass Subscribers spend 20% more time playing games, play 30% more games, play 40% more genres, and invest about 20% when compared to the average user on different platforms.
“There are 200 million people who buy a console, and there are 3 billion people who play games,” Bonds says. “Today, a lot of those people don’t have the option to play many of these amazing experiences and iconic games that you see. When you really look at what we’re doing with Game Pass is we’re making that possible by linking that to subscription and putting our streaming into the subscription. We’re able to make the economics of all that work”.
Xbox’s Phil Spencer affirmed in 2020 that the exponential growth of Xbox Game Pass is completely sustainable, the service has added EA Play, Xbox Cloud Streaming, and unique perks like a free trial of Disney + for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. Xbox Game Pass is also becoming even larger thanks to the addition of several Bethesda and id Software titles.
Phil Spencer also teased that Microsoft could add a new tier called Xbox Game Pass Platinum, the idea is to sell Streaming Sticks that allows the user to enjoy the full Xbox experience when plugged into an HDTV.
Source: Forbes– Photo by Casey Rodgers/Invision for Xbox/AP Images.
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