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Microsoft – Xbox game pass
In what he refers to as “a bit of a change of strategy,” Microsoft aims to get Game Pass and its first-party titles on “every screen that can play games,” which includes Switch and PlayStation, according to Xbox Chief Financial Officer Tim Stuart.
Naturally, the company has previously discussed bringing Xbox Game Pass on every platform; back in 2019, Xbox CEO Phil Spencer made repeated references to the plan and referred to it as a “long term goal” for the business.
After a year, Spencer appeared to concede that Game Pass wouldn’t work on rival systems when he stated, “The other competitive platforms really aren’t interested in having a full Xbox experience on their hardware.” However, we’re on that route because that’s where we want to be—where gamers want to be.”
Because of this, it may come as a surprise to hear the company bring up the approach so openly once more, but that is exactly what Xbox Chief Financial Officer Tim Stuart has done at this week’s Wells Fargo TMT Summit.
Stuart explained, “It’s a bit of a change of strategy,” to those in attendance (thanks to GameSpot). “We’re not making any big announcements here, but our goal is to make our first-party experiences and subscription services available on any gaming-capable screen. This includes mobile devices, smart TVs, and products like PlayStation and Nintendo that were formerly considered competitors.”
Stuart called Microsoft’s Game Pass division a “high margin” division and stated that the company plans to grow it in the future along with its successful first-party game and marketing initiatives. Stuart acknowledged that Microsoft’s recent acquisition of Activision Blizzard would enable the business to accomplish its objectives more quickly than it could have done on its own, according to GameSpot.
It’s unclear how open-minded rival console manufacturers will be to Microsoft’s proposals; in 2014, Sony famously shut down the EA Access membership service, which allowed users to access EA’s back catalog for a monthly charge, claiming it wasn’t “good value to the PlayStation gamer.” Nevertheless, given that EA Access—which was rebranded as EA Play—is now accessible on PlayStation, it appears that its position has loosened somewhat in recent years. PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium come with Ubisoft’s correspondingly designed Ubisoft+.
