If you’re not familiar with ID@Xbox, this is a program that Microsoft introduced in 2014 that allows independent video game developers to publish titles on Xbox consoles and the PC platform. It’s been a rather big success for indie game developers, and it’s provided some new means to further bring titles out into the marketplace for certain studios. However, the director of the division, Chris Charla, was recently asked if he views Xbox Game Pass as being disruptive.
During a conversation with Chris Charla and Gameindustry.biz, the question of the Xbox Game Pass came up. The publication reported that the author managed to speak with a few independent developers and publishers about the ID@Xbox division. It’s noted that there was plenty of praise for this division; however, the same couldn’t be said about Xbox Game Pass. Instead, there were concerns about this subscription service and what it could mean in the future. For example, would players be interested in purchasing games separately with Xbox Game Pass providing players with a collection of games for a single monthly fee? According to Chris Charla, players will be interested and purchase games despite Xbox Game Pass.
Chris used the example of free-to-play games first coming to consoles and the fear that this would prompt every game to become a free-to-play experience. But that didn’t happen. So instead, it was rational to think of the concerns over this concept becoming a reality, but it wasn’t a major change. Similar to another example Chris gave, Xbox Game Pass is not like Uber, which came in and took out the taxis in the industry. Instead, it’s more of an additive, as players are still apparently buying a lot of games.
According to their models and data, it seems that Xbox is noticing players are still purchasing games, especially on Xbox Game Pass, as a new incentive is available when a game starts to take its exit. When a game is getting ready to leave the Xbox Game Pass subscription service, there is a means to allow players the ability to purchase a game at a discounted price.
It’s additive. People still buy a lot of games and they still buy a lot of games on Xbox. They buy games through Game Pass at a discount, which is what they get as members. And so I don’t think Game Pass has been a disruptive business model, it’s been additive in a really positive way. And we as an industry needs to look at more of those additive business models. A bit like digital distribution, that may have been somewhat disruptive to the retail space, but it was ultimately additive because not every game needed to be of the size to justify being on a disc.
Chris Charla – Gamesindustry.biz
We’re certainly interested in seeing just what the future of Xbox Game Pass will hold and if competitor services will start popping up. Regardless, it’s clear that this subscription service is popular. While not every game that lands on the service will be something you’re actively waiting to play, having options will give you the ability to try games out. Some titles might surprise you and open up genres to explore further. Meanwhile, some games could be interesting but lack the thrill to captivate you in playing through the entire game. In these cases, the service can really prove to be worth the price as it might save you the headache of purchasing a game that you might have regretted shortly afterward.
