There are currently no plans for Microsoft’s subscription service to appear on the two competing platforms.
In the past, Xbox CFO Tim Stewart has said they want to bring Game Pass to all gaming-capable displays. According to his boss, Phil Spencer, he is behind the hounds: in an interview with Windows Central, the Xbox leader spoke more modestly about the future of Xbox Game Pass: “I’ll start by saying that we don’t plan to port the game Pass to the PlayStation or Nintendo platforms. That’s not in our plans I want to focus on how we can continue to innovate for those who are committed to it [Xbox] As well as our hardware platform, and how we can make sure they continue to feel good about their investment in what we’ve built.
Spencer added that every year Microsoft spends more than a billion dollars (!!!) so that external third-party games can be accessed on Game Pass, but despite this the service makes a profit, and therefore layered games (Grounded, Pentiment can provide) as well. Opportunity, so Activision Blizzard King’s old games may also have hope for subscribers to access them. Xbox Series hardware sales aren’t going well, and Spencer speaks in a way that it doesn’t sound like Microsoft doesn’t care about the hardware, because innovative features are what he says sets Xbox apart from the rest, and new hardware, features, and even breakthroughs have their own development schedule. There are no plans for a laptop, preferably supporting the current range (Valve Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Lenovo Legion Go).
What about old and classic franchises? He’s mentioned StarCraft and King’s Quest in the past, but now he mentioned Banjo-Kazooie in the interview: “I want our fans and customers to know that I don’t just put out games to play endlessly. People have seen how we’ve hinted at things in the past. Later on, we usually reconcile In between these hints in a way. I don’t tend to mislead people. It may not happen on the timeline people want, but usually when I suggest something, something happens.
Spencer was also in São Paulo at the Comic Con Experience, where he spoke to Bloomberg about how mobile is also important for Microsoft, and that the Redmond tech giant has a serious strategy for this: “This is an important part of our strategy, and we are now actively working on it, not Just on our own, but we’re also talking with other partners who also want to see more options for mobile monetization. We’ve talked about choice, and mobile phones today don’t have that. For Xbox to be relevant not only today, but also over the next 10 to 20 years , We need to be strong on many screens. And this will not happen in several years, but much sooner! Earlier, Tom Warren of The Verge said that the “Xbox bot” could be launched as early as 2024…
One partner will likely be Epic Games, since they are also fighting against Apple and Google so that games can only be accessed from their app stores, and they don’t get a 30% profit margin on each transaction. Microsoft has been an open backer of Tim Sweeney in the past, so it makes perfect sense for the two companies to team up (especially since Sweeney has long since buried the hatchet, as the dust has been raised quite a bit in the past).
Apple ranks third and Google ranks sixth in terms of revenue among game makers solely due to its 30% mobile profit margin (the former is with Apple Arcade, the latter is right up there with Google Stadia). The mobile segment is evolving much faster than the PC/console pair, so it’s no surprise that Sony wants to enter this space as well. Microsoft can rely on Candy Crush, Call of Duty Mobile, or Diablo Immortal with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard King, and if they exceed a 30% profit in the direction of Apple and Google, the company can achieve a much greater profit with games…
So, yes, the company is planning aggressively for the future.
