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Often, the negativity comes from people who don’t actively use the service, of course.
Developers have touted the service for providing much-needed cash flow and investment.
Xbox Game Pass is the best “exclusive” Xbox has right now.
Users laud the value on offer.
Xbox Game Pass follows every sentence Xbox speaks.
Yet, it hasn’t quite exploded as some people expected, perhaps Microsoft included.
Microsoft has been expanding the Xbox experience to new devices.
There’s the issue of balancing the costs of content acquisition and user acquisition.
There’s also the issue of cannibalizing other aspects of the platform for grow and balance those, too.
So, what does the immediate future of Xbox Game Pass look like in terms of growth?
Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Gaming app for Amazon Fire TV Sticks and Samsung TVs are helping the firm reach customers where they are.
Analysts think Xbox Game Pass is poised for continued growth, but is it?
In fact, the total console install base has beenflat for years.
However, as Ampere also notes, it is the only way to get Xbox Cloud Gaming right now.
Xbox Game Pass' Friends and Family Plan was a short-lived experiment into helping families gain access to the service for a lower cost per user.
And Xbox Cloud Gaming by itself is incredibly expensive for Xbox to run.
Xbox Cloud Gaming on Google Play blocks in-app purchases, per Google’s anti-competitive rules.
Apple blocks Xbox Cloud Gaming outright with its own anti-competitive rules.
Xbox Series X|S consoles continue to steadily sell in Microsoft’s core markets, although most of the sales are likely from Xbox One players upgrading. The total user base of console gamers hasn’t grown in a long time.
Even still, games designed for consoles don’t seem to be interesting to mobile gamers either.
These games are far better suited to big displays.
Right now, the entire app is basically subscription based, with very little upsell.
But when more microtransaction-heavy games arrive, its fortunes could change.
Spotify has only now recently started hitting its stride despite having hundreds of millions of users.
It hit $1 billion in gross profit for the first time ever after years of losses.
Much like Netflix, with a focus on exclusive content, as well as cost-cutting efforts.
With the content it has today, its potential addressable audience is likely far smaller than Netflix or Spotify.
Obviously, Microsoft already has its exclusive content line-up for Xbox Game Pass sorted.
However, as noted, the total addressable market is far smaller potentially.
Everyone listens to music and watches shows and movies.
Comparatively few people consider themselves “hardcore gamers.”
But perhaps Microsoft has some aces up its sleeve.
It could also be for users who don’t like the upfront costs of owning any console whatsoever.
I’ve also heardvery tentativerumors that theXbox Game Pass Friends and Family Planexperiment isn’t dead.
Microsoft is already doing partnerships in this vein with Riot Games for free titles like League of Legends.
Maybe they’ll even evangelize it like Netflix, too.
And what about ad-based tiers?
Amazon Prime TV and Netflix both now have ad-based tiers within their service.
This gives the absolute most thrifty users a way to enjoy the fun without having to spend a penny.
It also makes the service dependent on the online video ads market, which is heavily dominated by Google.
For one thing, I think Microsoft’supcoming Xbox gamesare firmly on lock and aren’t really the central issue.
It’s a virtuous mission, although the execution has been slow-paced.
Getting mobile gamers interested in core-style console games will also be incredibly tough, if not impossible.
And what about the potential damage to Xbox’s most dedicated customers:us?
I wrote an article previously detailinghow Microsoft’s distractions were leading to a degradation of the Xbox consoleexperience.
The recent Xbox Game Pass changes and pay rises are partially symptomatic of that balancing act.
But that’s what growing pains are all about.
