Phil Spencer Argues Xbox Game Pass Main Demographic Isn’t Everyone; Alternative To Buying Games

Although Microsoft remains adamant on being a player in the console space, it is not worried how many are play on an Xbox. The continued focus for the firm is subscription/account-focused. In January, Microsoft shrugged off the further decline in Xbox sales for its latest Series X|S SKUs as there remains a spike in revenue for its subscription & service instead.

Game Pass is a focal point for Microsoft’s investment in gaming. And it spends greatly for that. One report indicated that the Xbox firm exhaust roughly $1 billion annually in securing major titles for the business model. Additionally, another report also discloses about 80 percent of its return from first-party titles are forfeited releasing day & date on Xbox Game Pass.

And while Microsoft’s drive is to continuously increase the Xbox Game Pass population – last recorded at 34 million as of February 2024 – it has confessed it is not for everyone. In an interview with Variety, Phil Spencer expressed that the service is for those invested in playing games actively. “For me, I look at Game Pass as a healthy option for certain people. It’s not for everybody.

“If you play one or two games a year, Game Pass probably isn’t the right business model for you, you should just buy those two games, and that would make total sense. But I want you to have the choice. So we remain focused on everything that’s on Game Pass is also available to buy. We’re making those games available to buy in more places. And I look at the overall hours of people who are playing on Xbox, playing our games, and that’s a number that continues to grow fairly substantially, and that’s really the metric I think about for success.”

Spencer adds: “And Game Pass has been an important part of that, but I don’t try to solve for Game Pass specifically on its own. It’s kind of part of the equation for Xbox finding new players.” The interview is also attached to new comments on Xbox commitment to delivering more support from Xbox on Nintendo Switch 2. You can read the full report by heading here.

Are you surprised on how Spencer defines Game Pass’ demographic?

Source: Variety