Microsoft’s Game Pass has been the subject of much discussion in the video game industry. While many players believe that the service is a fantastic innovation, allowing everyone to have access to a vast catalog of games, on several different platforms, without having to invest a fortune for it, many developers believe that the service is not profitable enough to pay the production of high-budget games, preferring to maintain the current sales model.
This week, analysts at Digital Foundry published a new episode of the DF Weekly podcast and discussed the negative impact that Game Pass has had on the video game industry as a whole.
Digital Foundry has already become known for analyzing the technical performance of games on different platforms and their optimizations, which allows analysts to have enough baggage to determine which developers are doing better jobs.
During the most recent episode of the DF Weekly podcast, analysts at the company claimed that many Xbox players no longer buy first party or direct released games on Game Pass, implying that the service has been negatively impacting game sales. It is worth mentioning that they did not cite an official source for this claim.
Many people don’t buy the Microsoft exclusive games, with Game Pass available. Sales plummeted, didn’t they? I mean, we can look at sales numbers and Microsoft exclusive games very low numbers, due to the prevalence of Game Pass.
Although Phil Spencer, head of the Xbox Division, has vehemently stated that Game Pass has not mitigated game sales, reinforcing that the service is just another consumer option for gamers, the revelation made by analysts at Digital Foundry corroborates the fears of many developers to place releases on services like Game Pass.
Sony has already stated that it has no plans to put releases on PS Plus, as this would not bring enough income to fund the projects and it seems that Microsoft is reaching a point where this becomes increasingly evident.
John Linneman, another analyst at Digital Foundry, claims that Xbox game sales are down 80% from the pre-Game Pass era.
Even if they do not cite sources, it is obvious that with Game Pass releases, many players prefer to pay only the monthly service fee than to invest in just one game, apart from the fact that Microsoft itself has a console dedicated to games in version digital, as a way to promote Game Pass, in addition to other company actions for this.
On the other hand, Game Pass also helped to promote many games that would end up being “forgotten” in the traditional model, mainly indie titles or without a massive promotion investment.
So, what is your opinion about this analysis?
