Asked to the microphones of the YouTubers of Xbox Expansion Pass, the founder of the Xbox division Ed Fries said he was ‘scared’ by the long-term effects that a subscription service like Xbox Game Pass could have on the entire video game industry.
The former Microsoft executive candidly admitted that he looks suspiciously at the strategy carried out by the Redmond house with the Game Pass: “The only thing that makes me a little nervous (of the current gaming industry, ed) is the Game Pass. It scares me because I look at what Spotify is doing in the analogous context of the music world. People no longer buy songs on iPhones, for example, and besides, why should they?
Starting from this comparison, Fries explains that “we should be careful not to create the same system in the video game business. It is a more fragile market than people think. I have already seen the video game industry fall apart in the early 1980s. , and I also saw the destruction of the educational software business in the mid-1990s … sometimes it takes a few years to shatter a multi-billion dollar market. Spotify is certainly a great deal. But they aren’t necessarily great for the industry. ”
Fries’ warning does not seem to have been accepted by Microsoft, judging by the imminent arrival of AC Origins and Ubisoft games on Xbox Game Pass. Sony, on the other hand, is following a similar path that will soon lead it to launch the New PlayStation Plus with Ubisoft + Classics, the streaming titles of the current PS Now and a vast catalog of video games that, moreover, is destined to grow. overtime similar to what Microsoft promised with the Game Pass.