Since its launch back in 2017, Xbox Game Pass has been a huge success for Microsoft, with it quickly becoming their biggest source of profit. Not only that, but its a service that fans adore. It wasn’t always so well-received though according to a recent public profile of the CEO by The Wall Street Journal. There was one person that vouched for Game Pass from day one though, and that person was Phil Spencer.
The above profile describes that Phil Spencer was at the centre of the Xbox Game Pass proposal and consistently was an advocate for it, trying to make it work in any way he could, but some of the Xbox staff didn’t think it would work.
Some of Phil Spencers staff would come up with arguments as to why the service wouldn’t work. Many thought that the subscription service would eat into their profits and that publishers wouldn’t want to get involved.
Mr. Spencer was at the center of pushing this strategy forward. In meetings, Mr. Spencer’s staff would present arguments for why Game Pass wouldn’t work—publishers wouldn’t participate, or it would eat into profits.
Richard Irving, Former Xbox Employee
Irving explains that the CEO was relentless in pushing Game Pass stating “He wouldn’t take no for an answer and was always trying to find a way to make it work,”
Sarah Bond, the corporate Vice President in the Xbox group, who joined when Xbox Game Pass was launching says that Spencer is “an extraordinarily patient man,” and “He thinks of things in arcs of time far longer than me. He often encourages me to be patient.”
We’re glad to say that 5 years later, Phil Spencer was right to stick by Xbox Game Pass as it has one of the largest subscriber bases for any service. As of January 2022, Xbox Game Pass has 25 million users across both PC and Xbox. It’s even been the reason many gamers have made the switch to Xbox.
Subscribers of Xbox Game Pass get 100+ fantastic games (including all first-party released games) to download at their wish for just $10 per month. The service also has other subscriptions adding onto it too such as EA Play and Xbox Live Gold. With more seemingly on the way. An incredible service.
So, on behalf of all Xbox players and Xbox Game Pass supports, thank you Phil Spencer for giving us gamers a service that allows us to play as many games as possible for a affordable price.
