Analyst Explains Xbox Game Pass Is A “Risk-Averse” Approach To New IPs And Releases

When viewing Xbox Game Pass and the growing library that Microsoft has accumulated since its inception, the question lingers directly how the long-term effect for showcasing titles on the service. While the Xbox company has scored namely deals with publishers in the past to feature recognized releases on Xbox Game Pass, it is still left uncertain as to how games ultimately are received down the road.

Although these games receive an influx of active and impressionable users when arriving to Xbox Game Pass, standing at 18 million currently, where does that game expect to be later on beyond the initial hype and potential of being removed from Xbox Game Pass? In theory, the service is told to be a safer approach than a traditional release says Ampere Analysis Research Director Piers Harding-Rolls.

Upon speaking about the arrangement for Major League Baseball to orchestrate MLB The Show 21’s launch on Xbox Game Pass, he also elaborates on the “risk-averse” approach new games can establish with the service as well, ala People Can Fly’s Outriders earlier in April.

For some titles, launching day one into Game Pass is an increasingly risk-averse strategy: It secures a payment upfront, offers an engaged audience of over 18 million subscribers that can still be monetized through in-game spending, and there is the flexibility of removing the title to boost premium sales at a later date if required.

Those titles that are not top-tier in sales volume terms or that are based on new IP — i.e., do not have an established audience — could be solid candidates for day one releases.

So titles that have yet to establish a standing in the market are sure to find a boost in activity through Xbox Game Pass over the conventional approach of a ‘naked’ launch. And the results already prove to be impactful for Outriders with the title reported to harbor more than 100,000 users in the first 24 hours of its release last week.

Harding-Rolls continues on the topic when discussing Microsoft’s aim on the matter with MLB The Show 21: “From Microsoft’s perspective, even paying a substantial sum to secure the game on release is worth it. Microsoft is not thinking about short-term profitability as it continues its aggressive content and subscriber acquisition path for Game Pass. Competitively, the optics of this move are strong, and it keeps the Game Pass momentum building.”

Previously, Phil Spencer commented that future acquisitions would to best spin in favor of Xbox Game Pass. And now following the finalizing for the purchase of Bethesda parent company, Zenimax Media, subscribers are to further benefit. “delivering great exclusive games for you that ship on platforms where Game Pass exists,” Spencer asserts. You can read the full report by heading here.

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Source: Inverse