Ahead of Microsoft’s E3 presentation this coming Sunday, the company held a virtual press briefing and re-affirmed its commitment to the Xbox Game Pass initiative as the heart of its future.
Microsoft has been gradually building up Game Pass which serves as a ‘Netflix of games’ where users get access to a library of hundreds of games from across multiple console generations and of sizes ranging from AAA big-budget titles to small indie ones – all for a single monthly subscription fee.
Game Pass has many of the same benefits and drawbacks as a streaming service. On the upside, there’s access to hundreds of titles at any one time at no extra charge and a good library with some truly great content. On the downside you don’t own any of it, there’s plenty of mediocre and filler games padding out the total, and titles can be pulled from the line-up.
Game Pass’ success has helped bolster sales of Microsoft’s Series X console despite the complete lack of any first-party exclusives to date. They expect that drought to end in the future though with Matt Booty, Head of Xbox Game Studios, saying they’re aiming to get to the point of at least one major first-party title every quarter.
Microsoft is also exploring new subscription offerings for Game Pass beyond the ‘$10 for PC or console/$15 for both’ plans at the moment. While the console version has been universally praised, the PC only version of Game Pass has come under fire for offering only a fraction of titles available on the console along with a buggy interface.
Xbox also says they are working with global TV manufacturers to embed the Xbox experience directly into internet-connected televisions with no extra hardware required aside from a controller.
The company is also working on building its own streaming devices for cloud gaming to reach gamers on TVs without the need for a console or PC at all. Cloud gaming through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will expand to Australia, Brazil, Mexico and Japan later this year when cloud gaming will also come to the Xbox App on PC.
Intriguingly the company revealed that despite titles being available from Day One on Game Pass, it appears they have not taken much of a bite out of sales for the games themselves with titles like “Outriders” being the top-selling game on Xbox during its launch week, while day-and-date launched “MLB: The Show 21” has become the second-biggest selling sports game of all time on Xbox.
Source: Variety
