Microsoft’s head of gaming insists Game Pass isn’t Xbox’s ‘sole focus’ going forwards…
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In an interview in the latest issue of
Edge magazine, Spencer was asked if Game Pass is the sole focus for Xbox going forwards.
“No, it’s not,” he replied. “And I know it’s easy – I’m not picking on you when I say that, but you know, the thing I get a lot is ‘it’s all about X’, or ‘it’s all about Y or Z’.
“And when you’re running the platform, it’s all about X, Y
and Z, right? It’s all of those things.”
He added: “Do I want, or do I envision, everybody who’s on Xbox being a Game Pass subscriber? I don’t.
“I want people to make their choice. Some people want to buy all the games we ship and create their own library.”
In the same interview, Spencer reiterated his belief that Game Pass made good business sense, something that has been questioned by the likes of
Sony Interactive Entertainment boss
Jim Ryan and former
PlayStationexecutive
Shawn Layden in the past.
“Subscriptions give you a good continual revenue stream,” Spencer told Edge. “And that’s an important thing for any business, on top of the spikes that you’ll get around certain retail releases.
“That’s why I talk about it really being a mix of things. It’s not about one muscling out another.
“The business doesn’t hinge on any one number. The retail sales number, the console sales number, the Windows engagement, Game Pass,
xCloud engagement… it’s really all of these things coming together.”
This isn’t the first time Spencer has stressed that Game Pass is sustainable, but not the company’s sole focus.