Xbox has declared that Game Pass is “not for everybody” and serves a particular purpose in the gaming company’s ecosystem. The CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, spoke to Variety during an interview released on Tuesday (April 15) and broke down how Game Pass exists in the lives of the modern gamer.
Spencer detailed that the subscription service could be a “healthy option for certain people,” but quickly clarified that Microsoft isn’t trying to rake in every possible gamer to join the monthly service. The exec doubled down on the idea of viewing Game Pass as more like a tool that is available to players to help them get into more kinds of titles and experiences—if it makes sense for them.
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Game Pass is an option for players, not a mandatory requirement on Xbox
“I’ll start with just how many people are playing games. And I’ve always thought about Game Pass as just another option for somebody who wants to play. We have many business models for people playing from free to play, buying games, discounted games, Game Pass is an option. So when I’m looking at Game Pass, I want to make sure the hours that people are playing continue to go up, that new people see this as a way for them to find and build their library of games, and we remain focused on that.”
Games set to leave Game Pass soon
- Have a Nice Death
- Kona II: Brume
- Sniper Elite 5
- The Last Case of Benedict Fox
- Thirsty Suitors
- The Rewinder
The same conversation found Spencer discussing Xbox’s relationship with Nintendo. Phil asserted that both companies are determined to continue working with each other throughout the upcoming Switch 2 era. Microsoft’s Gaming CEO also insisted that the news of the Japanese company’s latest console didn’t make his team “antsy.” In fact, Xbox looked at the release of the second Switch as a moment of “inspiration” and stated that each company has its own lane, and Nintendo does theirs well.
“Our biggest areas of growth right now are PC and Cloud, which makes sense, since consoles, all up, are a good business, they’re an established business, but they’re not really a growing segment in gaming. So we’ve got good growth on PC, we’ve got growth on Cloud, in terms of users and hours. And console continues to be a really healthy part of Game Pass. But there isn’t a unique need for Game Pass to be the only way for people to play. If everybody who’s a Game Pass subscriber instead decided to buy their games, that’s good for the business as well.”
Meanwhile, Game Pass keeps on churning out new games for players to play anywhere. The massive gaming library was updated with GTA 5 for the Xbox Series X|S and GTA 5 Enhanced for PC, seemingly to get fans ready for the upcoming GTA 6 set to release later this year. Other games set to be added to Game Pass include Towerborne, Tempopo, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Neon White, and more. So, be sure to catch these titles before they depart.
Games set to join the Game Pass library
|
Games |
Date |
|
Neon White |
April 16 |
|
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game |
April 16 |
|
Crime Scene Cleaner |
April 17 |
|
Tempopo |
April 17 |
|
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
April 24 |
|
Towerborne |
April 29 |
|
Far Cry 4 |
April 30 |
|
Anno 1800 |
May 1 |
|
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 |
May 1 |
|
Dredge |
May 6 |
Xbox Game Pass
With an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription you get access to the Game Pass library on console, PC and in the cloud with new games added every single month.
