3
Much has been said since the launch of Xbox Game Pass if the service came to establish a before and after in the video game industry, as has happened with Spotify in music or with Netflix in the cinema. And although many think that the future will end up leading us to a similar scenario, the director of the ID @ Xbox program thinks differently, since he assures that Xbox Game Pass is not disruptive to the industrybut something that adds up.
This has been stated by Chris Charla, director of ID@Xbox, in an interview with the people of GameIndustry. asked by the concern that exists in a certain part of the sector that subscription services put an end to the classic video game sales model, Charla assured that “I wouldn’t describe it as disruptive (Xbox Game Pass), because I don’t think it’s the way Uber went in and got rid of all the cabs in that industry.”.
“Xbox Game Pass is not disruptive, but additive”
Charla justifies his argument by ensuring that, as has been seen since the service appeared, Xbox Game Pass is also additive in terms of game sales. Precisely, being subscribers to the service, the games that are included obtain a certain discount, which favors those users who want to own certain titles, can make it easier and cheaperresiding therein why Xbox Game Pass is not disruptive for the manager.
It’s additive. People still buy a lot of games and they still buy a lot of games on Xbox. They buy games through Game Pass at a discount, which is what they get as members. So I don’t think Game Pass has been a disruptive business model, it’s been additive in a really positive way. And we as an industry need to look at more of those additive business models. A bit like digital distribution, that may have been somewhat detrimental to the retail space, but ultimately it was additive because not every game needed to be a size to justify being on a disc.
However, as the study firm DFC Intelligence (through Wccftech) points out, it seems that the argument established by Charla is only fulfilled with the Nintendo Switch Online service, justifying it in that “taking it to the level of a Game Pass not only requires significantly more spending, but requires giving up a large established source of income”.
This would be the announcement of all Activision Blizzard games on Xbox Game Pass
we are xbox.com
This argument seems to fit more with the unfortunate statements that Microsoft made before the CMA, where it assured that Xbox Game Pass cannibalized video game sales, although it was later qualified that everything depended on each specific case. Either way, If Xbox Game Pass is not disruptive, it is something that will be known in a few yearssince if the industry finally turns its path towards subscription services definitively, there is no doubt that Microsoft will have been the pioneer in this regard.