stitch1
Member
Currently game pass has around 15 million subs paying something around $10 a month. So Xbox is bringing in something like $150mil a month. In this next generation let's say they double the subs to 30mil. That's $300 million a month. It's all digital and all funds currently flow straight to them.
So you ask yourself, how do they plan to double in subs and how do they keep current subs happy? It seems like they have an answer for everything.
Bigger longer better games. You'll see a lot more RPGs because they last longer. Keeping people engaged.
Online games. Games like Sea of Thieves and Destiny keep people logging in week after week to run missions and have monthly events.
Indie games. They may not stay on the platform for very long but they will keep a fresh batch coming so gamers have something new to try often. Gives a lot of exposure to the devs and there's always something interesting to check out without a barrier to entry.
Racing games. They have had this locked down for awhile with the two different Forza titles. These will continue on for both the sim and arcade one two punch.
Shooters. With Halo becoming an open world game as well as games as a service online game this should keep fans locked in. Then add in Gears and possibly Perfect Dark.
What's a quick and cheaper way to get content on the service? Backcompat games. These games weren't making anyone any money before. But now if a handful of gamers decided to go back play some of these games it keeps them on the service.
Of course they'll still do some big name third party games to keep it fresh. I'm also sure they'll keep a large selection of kid and family friendly games as well.
The more game types they can get going on the service the wider the net they cast to get more people on the service. The more they can keep people coming back month after month the more they can find bigger projects. But at the same time they lower the risks for experimental games.
But you say $500 consoles are a huge barrier to entry. But they even thought about that. Sure a lot of us are willing to pay that no questions asked. But say your younger kids want to play Minecraft so you get them the Series S for $300. Or maybe you have a PC buddy that doesn't want a console but wants to still play online with you. Cross platform play with game pass for PC. Then there's xcloud. No system needed at all. I could see this getting added as a smart tv app. So to recap you could play on mobile/tablet, PC, premium console, and budget console with browser support coming.
To me looking at it as a business model a game like skyrim / fallout or the Witcher is more valuable than a game like The Order 1886 because they can easily be played for 100 hours + rather than just an afternoon. However, they could take a chance on something more creative like the order because of the monthly safety net.
I bring up The Order because I enjoyed it for what it was. However, it apparently went over budget, missed their deadlines, and then underperformed at retail. So I kind of doubt Sony will ever do a follow-up. It's only about an 8 hour game. Something like that on gamepass is great for a quick play because they aren't asking you for $60 for that 8 hour experience. That's a quick 1000 achievement score and on to the next.
With game budgets getting higher making the barrier to entry lower makes a ton of sense. $15 a month give you so many options and helps raise game budgets. Currently game pass brings in enough to fund three $50 million games a month. Or with budgets getting higher they could fund one $250mil+ GTA 5 sized game every two months. If they can grow the service to 30mil subs they could afford to fund a AAA game each month. Of course they wouldn't need to. Games take years to make. But the income would be there.
This seems genius but yet I read a lot of people thinking it's unsubstantiated. I don't think microsoft became one of the wealthiest companies without some smart people making business models like this.
So you ask yourself, how do they plan to double in subs and how do they keep current subs happy? It seems like they have an answer for everything.
Bigger longer better games. You'll see a lot more RPGs because they last longer. Keeping people engaged.
Online games. Games like Sea of Thieves and Destiny keep people logging in week after week to run missions and have monthly events.
Indie games. They may not stay on the platform for very long but they will keep a fresh batch coming so gamers have something new to try often. Gives a lot of exposure to the devs and there's always something interesting to check out without a barrier to entry.
Racing games. They have had this locked down for awhile with the two different Forza titles. These will continue on for both the sim and arcade one two punch.
Shooters. With Halo becoming an open world game as well as games as a service online game this should keep fans locked in. Then add in Gears and possibly Perfect Dark.
What's a quick and cheaper way to get content on the service? Backcompat games. These games weren't making anyone any money before. But now if a handful of gamers decided to go back play some of these games it keeps them on the service.
Of course they'll still do some big name third party games to keep it fresh. I'm also sure they'll keep a large selection of kid and family friendly games as well.
The more game types they can get going on the service the wider the net they cast to get more people on the service. The more they can keep people coming back month after month the more they can find bigger projects. But at the same time they lower the risks for experimental games.
But you say $500 consoles are a huge barrier to entry. But they even thought about that. Sure a lot of us are willing to pay that no questions asked. But say your younger kids want to play Minecraft so you get them the Series S for $300. Or maybe you have a PC buddy that doesn't want a console but wants to still play online with you. Cross platform play with game pass for PC. Then there's xcloud. No system needed at all. I could see this getting added as a smart tv app. So to recap you could play on mobile/tablet, PC, premium console, and budget console with browser support coming.
To me looking at it as a business model a game like skyrim / fallout or the Witcher is more valuable than a game like The Order 1886 because they can easily be played for 100 hours + rather than just an afternoon. However, they could take a chance on something more creative like the order because of the monthly safety net.
I bring up The Order because I enjoyed it for what it was. However, it apparently went over budget, missed their deadlines, and then underperformed at retail. So I kind of doubt Sony will ever do a follow-up. It's only about an 8 hour game. Something like that on gamepass is great for a quick play because they aren't asking you for $60 for that 8 hour experience. That's a quick 1000 achievement score and on to the next.
With game budgets getting higher making the barrier to entry lower makes a ton of sense. $15 a month give you so many options and helps raise game budgets. Currently game pass brings in enough to fund three $50 million games a month. Or with budgets getting higher they could fund one $250mil+ GTA 5 sized game every two months. If they can grow the service to 30mil subs they could afford to fund a AAA game each month. Of course they wouldn't need to. Games take years to make. But the income would be there.
This seems genius but yet I read a lot of people thinking it's unsubstantiated. I don't think microsoft became one of the wealthiest companies without some smart people making business models like this.