Game Pass Could be a Threat to the Industry; Xbox Co-creator Warns
Game Pass is an ideal service for many gamers. However, the former Xbox vice president has a different opinion, believieng the service could have a bad impact on the industry.
- According to one Xbox developer, Game Pass could have a bad effect on the industry;
- The service could affect it like Spotify affected the music market;
- Games would simply not be worth buying, which would significantly reduce revenues from their sale.
As gamers, we have already become accustomed to the fact that Game Pass is a great option for people who do not want to spend a fortune on video games. For a monthly fee we get access to an entire library of titles, rather than a single title.
However, this system may have some drawbacks. According to former Xbox vice president and one of the creators of Microsoft's first-generation console, Ed Fries, the service could backfire on the industry as a whole.
Game Pass is like Spotify
Ed Fries commented on Game Pass in the Xbox Expansion Pass podcast. He admitted that from a consumer point of view this service has almost no drawbacks.
However, he believes things look different from the perspective of the entire gaming industry. Microsoft's subscription is supposed to be a direct threat to it.
"Game Pass is scary because it is something analogous to Spotify, which was created with the music market in mind. When Spotify launched, it destroyed the music industry. It literally cut the annual revenue of the entire market in half and made people not want to buy music anymore.
That's why Game Pass bothers me. As a consumer, I love it, just like I love Spotify. I can have all these songs whenever I want, and it's a really good offering. Unfortunately, it's not necessarily as good for the industry."
It's hard not to acknowledge that these concerns may be valid. It's worth remembering, however, that so far this is just speculation by Fries.
As a matter of fact, the behaviour of consumers in the games industry may be different from the behaviour of those who consume music. However, we probably won't be able to draw conclusions about this until a few years from now.
