Ed Fries, who led the development team for the first Xbox, expresses his concern in an interview.
Xbox has emerged as one of the most surprising and successful services in the video game industry. This is demonstrated by its constant catalog updates, the growth in its number of users and the trends registered among players, but Microsoft’s proposal does not convince all people familiar with the video game environment. Y Ed Friesknown for leading the team that created the first Xbox and who left the company in 2004, has admitted to having doubts about to the impact of Game Pass in the sector.
What they are doing and it makes me nervous is Game PassEd FriesFries has talked about it in an interview for Xbox Expansion Pass (via VGC), where he is asked about the decisions he would make if he were part of Microsoft’s video game department today: “What they are doing and It makes me nervous it’s Game Pass,” explains the former executive. “Game Pass scares me because there’s an analog thing called Spotify which was created for the music business. When Spotify took off, destroyed the music businessliterally cut the music industry’s annual revenue in half. It’s been done so people don’t buy more songs.”
“So we have to be careful not to create the same system in the video game industry,” says Fries. “These markets are more fragile than people think. I’ve seen the video game industry destroy itself in the early 1980s. I watched the educational software business destroy itself in the mid 1990s… They literally destroyed a multi-billion dollar market in just a few short years.”
When Spotify took off, it destroyed the music business, cut the industry’s annual revenue in halfEd Fries“So Game Pass makes me nervous,” Fries continues. “As a customer I love. I love Spotify as a customer – I have all the songs I’ve ever wanted… It’s a great deal for the customer. But it’s not necessarily good for the industry.” Next, the former boss is asked about the possibility of video game developers accepting subscription platforms as usual, which Fries believes “At some point it flipped and everything had to be [en Spotify]. The percentage of games that are on Game Pass still small and there are many games. There are 200 games coming out a week on Steam, and even more on mobile.”
After Spotify, the music industry grew like never before
Since 2011 (Spotify’s launch year in the US), the music industry has increased its revenue by 75%What are the data recorded in the music industry after the launch of Spotify? Well, contrary to what Fries believes, the sector grew tremendously with the launch of this application. From VGC they collect the declarations of Tim Inghameditor of MusicBizWorldwide regarding this issue, who recalls that the music business saw its income grow by 75% since 2011 (the year Spotify hit the US market).
However, the consumption of music cannot be compared to that of video games, as recalled Christopher Dringhead of B2B gaming at studio ReedPop and VGC contributor: “Right now, there are a lot of stories about how subscription services have been additive to game creators. Not only are they a source of revenue on their own, but they’re also they immediately open the games to millions of people“says the professional.
“There are many examples of games being introduced to subscription services on a console, becoming incredibly popular, and that has caused a peak sales at normal prices of 60 dollars on other platforms, “recalls Dring. Obviously, there is some concern about the income generated by subscription services, which is why PlayStation is reluctant to introduce exclusive launch games in the catalog of its new PS Plus .
“However, games are very different from music or TV. These linear forms of entertainment are much shorter, and more digestible. How many songs or TV shows do people consume vs video games?” Dring reflects in the Article. “If you’re someone who only plays a couple of games a year (like FIFA or Call of Duty), how likely are you going to subscribe to a service with hundreds of options? It remains to be seen.” how great game subscription services will become“.
At the moment, Ed Fries has no reason to worry about Xbox Game Pass’s impact on the industry. Ultimately, Microsoft plans extend the entertainment of your service with a family plan and, thanks to the benefits generated by his proposal, he has the opportunity to explore other areas of the video game such as a Cloud Gaming which already exceeds 10 million users.
More about: Xbox Game Pass, Xbox, Microsoft, Spotify and Ed Fries.
