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Phil Spencer on Game Pass: "It is completely sustainable as it is", does not plan to increase price

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Deleted member 50658

Banned
Dec 8, 2018
1,911
supercommodore said:
If that were true then MS would have stopped investing in anything that wasn't Azure and commercial cloud by now and would have dropped out of gaming some time ago. Gaming profit margins will likely never reach that of those divisions.
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You don't invest in something just because it's bigger right now but for future opportunities. Azure investment was a opportunity and gamble years ago that really paid off.

There is a reason why Nadella have completely turned the focus away from focusing on consoles and instead targeting multiple devices and not selling hardware and software but focusing on services and streaming but we won't know for years if this gamble will pay off and they will see increased profitability.
 
mentok15

mentok15

Member
Dec 20, 2017
7,302
Australia
The quote seems to indicate not that it will never increase in price, just that their strategy isn't getting as many people subbed and then surprise them with a price increase. I think gamepass is great but I'm under no delusion that it will never increase in price. Either directly or through the addition of more tiers.

And anyway I take my dogs opinion on business/economics more seriously than Eras.
 
supercommodore

supercommodore

Prophet of Truth
Member
Apr 13, 2020
4,190
UK
Rumpestump said:
You don't invest in something just because it's bigger right now but for future opportunities. Azure investment was a opportunity and gamble years ago that really paid off.
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Even with the success of game pass it will highly likely not approach the money made by Azure or commercial cloud.

Just one example is that combining commercial and consumer numbers Office 365 has over 300 million subs. That's more than all the big 3 console users combined by some margin. The likelihood of game pass hitting anywhere near those numbers is pretty low.

Shareholders will want a ROI, no one is arguing they won't. But this idea that MS shareholders will not accept game pass being a loss leader in the short/medium term just isn't true.
 
ShapeDePapa

ShapeDePapa

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,938
A price hike is probably coming later down the line in maybe 2 or 3 years when the service will have a lot more 1st party games.
 
Fizie

Fizie

Member
Jan 21, 2018
2,851
Of course the price will eventually increase (as does everything) but no immediate plans. People really need to stop that concern, it's getting desperate.
 
ThereAreFourNaan

ThereAreFourNaan

Member
Nov 8, 2017
13,107
It makes sense to keep prices low during their growth phase. When subscriber growth starts to plataeu significantly, that's when the company will start thinking about raising prices to raise profit margins. But while they can continue adding more and more customers, why would you raise prices? Adding customers increases the revenue significantly anyway. I'm not expecting any increases for a few years.
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,183
The Interview was so fun and the questions asked were amazing and different to those from other outlets. Please don't just focus on the headline from this thread.
 
cyrribrae

cyrribrae

Chicken Chaser
Member
Jan 21, 2019
12,723
The number of people who are comfortable just casually saying "Ha, no, sure Xbox has been fully truthful about everything they've said about Game Pass thus far, but CLEARLY Phil Spencer (gaming devil and pied piper of gaming SHEEPLE WHO NEED TO WAKE THE FUCK UP BECAUSE HE'S DOOMING THEM TO GAAS HELL) is lying. Of course he's lying. There's absolutely no way that he could be telling the truth, because *I Know™* that Game Pass is unsustainable. And no amount of absolutely clear statement to the contrary is going to convince me.

Why do people hate Phil Spencer so much? It's truly TRULY baffling. Of all the executives in the gaming industry, the one who's not only stated that he wants to end console wars, but has made strides toward accessibility, reducing toxicity, invested a lot of money in diversity, pushed pro-gaming initiatives and narratives, significantly reduced paid exclusivity deals, sought to reach new markets and empowering new creators...

All stuff that people on this forum supposedly value....

Is somehow not trustworthy? Like maybe if he just said stuff and never did anything. But no. Phil Spencer has delivered on a lot of it (still a long way to go, of course). And that's ON TOP OF being very well-respected in the Xbox community, so it's not even like he's been neglecting Xbox while being generally a great guy elsewhere.

I JUST DON'T GET IT.
 
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Noble

Noble

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,680
crazillo said:
The Interview was so fun and the questions asked were amazing and different to those from other outlets. Please don't just focus on the headline from this thread.
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You are right, but also there already is a thread for the full interview. This seemed like a nice, honest statement by Phil, but I can see how the toxicity here won't even allow anyone to post a single positive comment coming from the guy.
 
Creepy Woody

Creepy Woody

Member
Nov 11, 2017
2,625
Australia
Their priority in the present is simply getting more people on it. No doubt a price increase will come one day in the future, but I think this will be the standard price for a long time. Not only that but if they hike the price, it may ward people off.

Lots of people I know cancelled their Netflix after they hiked it about $5 in Australia for anything above standard definition (which nobody wants because streamed 480p on a big tv looks like ass). Granted I feel Game pass has a lot more worth than Netflix in that games generally cost more to buy than movies or tv shows (unless its a complete tv series collection).
 
Audere Est Facere

Audere Est Facere

Banned
Oct 19, 2020
238
ThatCrazyGuy said:
Why do people here have such a problem with GamePass? It's awesome right now. When it becomes un-awesome, it will pivot to what it needs to or die. And there is Sony's and Nintendo's ecosystem around to chose if you don't like GamePass.

And I do think it will raise in price in a few years, like all services. I don't think they will do it as they are trying to get a big base though.
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only reason i can think of is they aren't using it lol its the only thing that makes sense.
 
SgtCobra

SgtCobra

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,865
cyrribrae said:
The number of people who are comfortable just casually saying "Ha, no, sure Xbox has been fully truthful about everything they've said about Game Pass thus far, but CLEARLY Phil Spencer (gaming devil and pied piper of gaming SHEEPLE WHO NEED TO WAKE THE FUCK UP BECAUSE HE'S DOOMING THEM TO GAAS HELL) is lying. Of course he's lying. There's absolutely no way that he could be telling the truth, because *I Know™* that Game Pass is unsustainable. And no amount of absolutely clear statement to the contrary is going to convince me.

Why do people hate Phil Spencer so much? It's truly TRULY baffling. Of all the executives in the gaming industry, the one who's not only stated that he wants to end console wars, but has made strides toward accessibility, reducing toxicity, invested a lot of money in diversity, pushed pro-gaming initiatives and narratives, significantly reduced paid exclusivity deals, sought to reach new markets and empowering new creators...

All stuff that people on this forum supposedly value....

Is somehow not trustworthy? Like maybe if he just said stuff and never did anything. But no. Phil Spencer has delivered on a lot of it (still a long way to go, of course). And that's ON TOP OF being very well-respected in the Xbox community, so it's not even like he's been neglecting Xbox while being generally a great guy elsewhere.

I JUST DON'T GET IT.
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Jesus is this a copypasta? If not then stop it cause Phil still ain't greenlighting a new Blinx anytime soon lol

Jk but the "hate" is definitely unwarranted , I too sometimes make fun of his "fans" but the man is just doing his job and a pretty good one too as far as I can see. But sometimes it's important to see through all that PR talk too.
 
Shairi

Shairi

Member
Aug 27, 2018
8,562
Microsoft's big games are all at least 2-3 years away from release.

There is very little ground to justify a price increase in the next 2 years. But they will increase the price eventually.

I think it's rather naive of people to believe that this service won't have any price increase when other subscription services are constantly increasing their prices.

Especially because the service will eat into their profitability and will have huge opportunity costs.
 
MiDoZ

MiDoZ

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
828
ThatCrazyGuy said:
Why do people here have such a problem with GamePass? It's awesome right now. When it becomes un-awesome, it will pivot to what it needs to or die. And there is Sony's and Nintendo's ecosystem around to chose if you don't like GamePass.

And I do think it will raise in price in a few years, like all services. I don't think they will do it as they are trying to get a big base though.
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Cuz its not on their favorite piece of plastic.
Game pass is one of the best things that ever happened to gaming.
 
Don Dada

Don Dada

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,093
darthpaxton said:
I mean, 15 million subscribers as of September. That's up from 10 million in April. Plus, that happened without much first-party support. That number should (or, probably more accurately, Xbox is banking on that number) absolutely explode in 2021 and 2022 with things like Halo, Starfield, Hellblade 2, Wolfenstein 3, Psychonauts 2, Fable, Everwild, Forza, Age of Empires 4, Ghostwire: Tokyo, and Deathloop coming to the service.
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15 million people on the £1 trick and it's sustainable. Imagine when they all upgrade to full price.
 
dude

dude

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,634
Tel Aviv
That's interesting to hear. I wonder what the pay system is for devs on GP.
I think they'll probably raise the price at some point (if only because of inflation), but if this is "sustainable" right now (which is an interesting word, does that mean GP is already profitable? Breakeven?) then they might not have to raise the price for a good while.
 
platocplx

platocplx

2020 Member Elect
Member
Oct 30, 2017
36,072
Well he said there is no plan today which is probably the case and it's probably sustainable as long as they keep getting enough people and attrition is low but this does not close the door on a price increase at all. Just that there isn't a plan at the moment In the near term. But I do think the 1 dollar deal will go away and they will probally see how much impact that has on people staying or leaving.
 
Governergrimm

Governergrimm

Member
Jun 25, 2019
6,548
gifyku said:
We just had a thread locked because people were mad at Xbox marketing, but I see we are at the Xbox is lying stage on the first page itself here
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It's what era does. Other fun times when Phil said they were doing something and Era said no they aren't/won't:
  • Put first party games one PC
  • Put first party games on Steam
  • Put all first party games on Gamepass day and date.
  • Won't dictate what games the studios make
Fun times.
 

Deleted member 68874

Account closed at user request
Banned
May 10, 2020
10,441
dude said:
That's interesting to hear. I wonder what the pay system is for devs on GP.
I think they'll probably raise the price at some point (if only because of inflation), but if this is "sustainable" right now (which is an interesting word, does that mean GP is already profitable? Breakeven?) then they might not have to raise the price for a good while.
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All signs point to the devs receiving a lump sum of money to have their game on Gamepass.
 

Slowsonic

Member
Feb 25, 2018
441
What's he's saying is the current price is not a bait price, they are the price sustainable for the scale of operation for the foreseeable future, that's don not means there won't be increase from inflation, exchange rate change etc.
 
gogojira

gogojira

Member
Oct 27, 2017
2,906
He is absolutely lying and the price will go up soon.

Don't ask me how I know because I don't and I am definitely making shit up. Game Pass is great.
 
Megamind.

Megamind.

Member
Nov 18, 2019
1,006
Yerffej said:
Trash like this with nothing to back it up still gets spun as fact huh?
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I have elaborated in further posts my stance. And yet I got 10 notifications or replies, most attacking me personally, like yourself, rather than engaging in an actual conversation. And yet my post is trash. Rather comical if you ask me
 
Megamind.

Megamind.

Member
Nov 18, 2019
1,006
Audere Est Facere said:
it's terrible logic. ms wants people to stay subbed for as long as possible. single player games are better for that than say gaas games.
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Id disagree. Multiplayer games like Cod, rocket league, fortnite and so on offer higher repayability, they offer easier ways to add new content, like skins, cosmetics and new modes/maps. And they have the season system going on.

Do you really believe games like TLoU are played more than Destiny or CoD? No way would i believe that.

Engagement is higher on multiplayer games. Just look at the Sony thread today, a HUGE portion of their revenue from PSN is microtransactions. If I remember correctly its their biggest chunk. These games would thrive in a gamepass system. Single player games would not seem as enticing from a business point of view.
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,183
Noble said:
You are right, but also there already is a thread for the full interview. This seemed like a nice, honest statement by Phil, but I can see how the toxicity here won't even allow anyone to post a single positive comment coming from the guy.
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You mean this one? It's not very informative on all the other interesting bits or the content in general :/

It's just way too toxic in here for isolated quotes like the one you singled out. I think it's an important piece of news, yes - but jesus, ERA really needs to calm down.
 
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Rubik8

Rubik8

Member
Dec 5, 2018
133
After they dump a few of those AAA games with $100M budgets, they are going to raise the price. I expect a $5/month increase before the end of 2021.
 
Don Dada

Don Dada

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,093
Bananaking said:
Id disagree. Multiplayer games like Cod, rocket league, fortnite and so on offer higher repayability, they offer easier ways to add new content, like skins, cosmetics and new modes/maps. And they have the season system going on.

Do you really believe games like TLoU are played more than Destiny or CoD? No way would i believe that.

Engagement is higher on multiplayer games. Just look at the Sony thread today, a HUGE portion of their revenue from PSN is microtransactions. If I remember correctly its their biggest chunk. These games would thrive in a gamepass system. Single player games would not seem as enticing from a business point of view.
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So let's says Microsoft's studios are up and ready to release games and they start pumping out 4 AAAA games a year. Is it possible for them to sustain 4 GAAS titles a year when you consider that there are huge 3rd party games also competing in this space?

Or do you think it makes more sense for MS to position Gamepass as offering an alternative to those type of games?
 
Rippa

Rippa

Member
Feb 15, 2018
849
Don Dada said:
15 million people on the £1 trick and it's sustainable. Imagine when they all upgrade to full price.
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LoL my subscription to GamePass just lapsed.

I will NOT re-sub until I get 3 years of Live with upgrade to GamePass at $1.

I imagine most people would do the same... if they're privy to the trick.
 
Yerffej

Yerffej

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,525
Bananaking said:
I have elaborated in further posts my stance. And yet I got 10 notifications or replies, most attacking me personally, like yourself, rather than engaging in an actual conversation. And yet my post is trash. Rather comical if you ask me
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You saying it's just "logic" and "I'm looking at it from the corporation's view, not the consumer" means literally nothing and has been argued here plenty already, if you're thinking you somehow found a new angle.

It's a bad example to say the only way to sustain these things is through multiplayer, bleed you dry type games in the near future. Every single company has learned, especially throughout this gen, that sp matters to folks. Nintendo has thrived on it. Sony lives on them. What kind of goofy thought process is it to assume because MS is going for a new model, that they must become a thing that goes against what most want? If Netflix decides series do better than movies, do they eventually do away with the choice of having movies on their service because it doesn't bring enough juice?

MS will offer all kinds of games because forcing your customers down one type of path drives them away. They can't force someone to stay on. So choice will be key. Like it is on any sub service you can think of. We don't need the fear mongering. It's been done to death.
 
Prime2

Prime2

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,338
Rippa said:
LoL my subscription to GamePass just lapsed.

I will NOT re-sub until I get 3 years of Live with upgrade to GamePass at $1.

I imagine most people would do the same.
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So you will pay them for 3 years of live instead lol, its not the equivalent for Gamepass but thats still a decent chunk of money.
 
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