I don’t know how you go from “there is more growth opportunity in the PC space” to “console owners are second class citizens”, it’s a big leap.
That's not the thing which shows that Xbox console owners are second class citizens in that ecosystem, though. It's Xbox Game Pass getting price increases yet none on PC Game Pass. It's MS Reward points getting a tighter cap on Xbox but not on PC. That's in addition to things like 1P games costing less on PC than on Xbox, having free online MP on PC Day 1, having more graphics, framerate & resolution options on PC than console (again, Day 1), etc.
How do you sit back and not acknowledge that Xbox owners are increasingly an afterthought to Microsoft in the Xbox ecosystem? I don't care what Phil says in a PR-controlled interview; I care about the actual actions the company does.
PC GP launched two years after console GP and the offer between the two isn’t at parity yet, which is imo the reason for the difference in the price increase. Or maybe it’s more present in price sensitive markets. The whole second class thing is your interpretation that nobody shares, especially users.
The only area where they lack parity is on some 3P games and, if anything, PC Game Pass has the advantage over console because MS have released some games on PC as timed exclusives before coming to console, such as Flight Simulator and Age of Empires IV.
If you're suggesting they aren't increasing PC Game Pass because it's a more price-conscious market, aren't you making the argument in a sense for why companies like Sony should not do Day 1 releases on PC? What makes those gamers feel entitled for cheaper access to that content than the console owners? In terms of subscription services what is Game Pass even really competing against on PC?
How do you connect GP revenue to PC/Xbox split when nobody knows how users are split between the platforms? How do you know the split of PC and console revenue? You don’t and you’re spitballing.
No; I'm using as much market data as we can get from 3P sources and collaborating that with market data other platform holders are actually confident enough to publicly share to their investors.
The 15% figure is what Phil sees Game Pass as a whole contributing to their gaming bottom line. That's console & PC combined. If Game Pass generated $2 billion in 2022, and it was closer 10% at that time, then that would line up with ~ $17 billion Xbox drew in for revenue for the last fiscal quarter (yes the $2 billion would be split between two fiscal years but that isn't very important here).
Microsoft doesn't make Xbox gaming hardware systems; they make Xbox game consoles. That already gives console a big advantage in gaming revenue vs. PC and Game Pass. MS also get 30% cuts off of most 3P game sales on Xbox; they get none of that on PC outside of maybe Windows Store but 3P game sales there are pathetic compared to Steam or even EGS.
I forget to account for gaming peripherals; those would probably be a bit under Game Pass or at best tie with it, most likely.
More importantly, why in the world would MS lie about or misrepresent its own priorities in an e-mail from Spencer to Nadella???
Spencer's ass is on the line and he is trying to pitch a future for Microsoft in gaming that aligns with the overall corporate strategy Nadella has been moving the company towards. But the truth is gaming for MS is three pillars: Xbox console, Game Pass, and mobile.
The truth is it doesn't matter what their growth vectors are in gaming specifically because at the end of the day, the money talks, and the breadwinner for Microsoft in gaming is still very much Xbox consoles and that audience. So while on one hand it makes sense to increase prices on that audience , when Microsoft does it, it looks like they're taking advantage of that customer base and taking them for granted.
It's different from say Sony getting more ARPU because when they did things like relaunch PS+ with the new tiers, they actually added content & value to correspond with the increase. They also don't simultaneously bring their content to another platform (PC) that gets the content for cheaper Day 1, gets online for free Day 1, and gets more performance features Day 1. They don't immediately devalue their offerings on console the way Microsoft does between Xbox and PC (IMO).