Xbox Game Pass is the best deal on gaming. You've probably heard this statement to the point of nausea, but honestly, it bears repeating. No other service offers anything close to the great value that Microsoft's gaming extravaganza offers, and its success is basically why Sony is reportedly preparing its own response to Game Pass.
Still, some corners of the gaming community are still unconvinced. The most common criticism leveled at Microsoft's service, which has more than 25 million subscribers, is that it's "bad for developers." After all, if you're paying a monthly subscription to play a rotating selection of the most popular games available, why would you need to spend another penny again?
It's this type of rhetoric that many believe makes Xbox Game Pass a hindrance to developers, rather than a way to help them make money and grow their following. But this is categorically false. It turns out that Game Pass is good for developers and good for gamers in general.
Here's the money
During a GDC 2022 presentation titled Game Pass: Maximizing the Total Value of Your Game, Microsoft revealed that Xbox Game Pass subscribers spend 60% more on games, 45% more on add-ons, and 45% more on consumables than Xbox Game Pass subscribers. who are not subscribed. . Subscribers also tend to play 40% more than non-subscribers, often discovering new genres that they may have missed before.
Unsurprisingly, gamers are buying games that aren't yet on Xbox Game Pass or picking up titles they're currently enjoying at a discount. Every title on Microsoft's service comes with a 20% discount, and the DLC is also 10% discount, which means you can have every title on Xbox Game Pass if you really want to, albeit digitally.
But what about the day one launch? Surely, aside from the fees Microsoft secretly incurs with a publisher to bring a title to Xbox Game Pass, there can't be so many benefits for developers? Well, it turns out that games that launch on day one on Game Pass see a 3,5x increase in player numbers, while games from indie developers see a 15x increase.
Xbox Game Pass has proven to be a boon to indie developers in particular. A simple glance at the entire Game Pass library reveals a litany of independently developed games, and has helped shed light on a fair number of modern hits like Outer Wilds, Paradise Killer, and more recently Tunic. This led to a triple-digit increase in revenue for independent developers, according to Microsoft.
We've also seen this effect in titles like Forza Horizon 5, which reached over 10 million players in the space of a week. We've seen a million players pick up the game even before it was released, even though it made its way to Xbox Game Pass. Obviously, the money is made.
undeniable value
So is the skepticism surrounding Xbox Game Pass completely unwarranted? No, not really, in part because Game Pass is the antithesis of what gamers are used to. The video game industry has a bad habit of making money off players at every opportunity, be it through microtransactions, season passes, or NFTs. The aversion to Xbox Game Pass is understandable, then, if it looks like one more subscription coming out of your bank account every month.
But Game Pass really is incredible value for money, and now we have hard evidence that it doesn't hurt developers in any way, quite the contrary. One could even argue that several major Game Pass titles like Sea of Thieves have only been able to grow and maintain healthy player bases thanks to their service.
While you may not be excited about all the games coming to the service, Microsoft is reportedly adding over $6,300 (about $4,780 / AU$8,823) worth of games to Game Pass in 2021, which is impressive no matter what. how do you shake it Its premium tier offer, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, includes Xbox Game Pass for console and PC, Xbox Cloud Gaming, EA Play membership, Xbox Live Gold membership, and various monthly benefits and discounts.
Will the Game Pass bubble burst?
So the biggest and most viable concern about the future of Xbox Game Pass isn't that it negatively affects game developers or gamers' spending habits, but rather whether or not Microsoft chooses to raise the price of its service, something which Microsoft chief gaming executive Phil Spencer has vehemently expressed. denied
In an interview with Axios' Stephen Totilo, Spencer said: "When will the price of Game Pass go up?" They buy all these studios. You know, it's inevitable. Even if four years have passed, now, we haven't picked it up.
"But it's like, 'You know, it happens' 'When they get to number one, they'll start doing all these exclusive offers that, like, you know, Xbox has a history' and all I can do is make the decisions that we have for ahead and trying to be explicit about our objectives.
Of course, there will come a time when the price of Xbox Game Pass rises: Sony's own games are now $70/$70 after previously costing $60/$60 for decades, and Netflix has been slowly increasing its price of Xbox Game Pass. subscription over time. . . If the same fate befalls Xbox Game Pass, it will be up to Microsoft to ensure its service remains the compelling proposition it is today to keep gamers and developers happy.
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